On October 3, the NCB detained Aryan Khan, his buddy Arbaaz Merchant, and model Munmum Dhamecha in connection with the drugs-on-cruise case.
On Monday, the person, whose name has come up in connection with the pay-off claims surrounding the drugs-on-cruise case, stated that NCB witness KP Gosavi told him that no drugs were found on Aryan Khan, the son of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, during the agency’s raid in October.
According to the reports of PTI, “In the wee hours of October 3, I came to know that the celebrity who was caught on the ship was Aryan Khan. That time Aryan told Gosavi that he wanted to talk to his manager Pooja Dadlani. Gosavi conveyed Aryan’s message. That time Gosavi told me that Aryan Khan was clean and no drugs were found in his possession. He said we can help him (Aryan Khan),” D’Souza claimed.
D’Souza, Gosavi, Pooja Dadlani, her husband, and a man named Chikki Pandey met in Mumbai’s Lower Parel neighbourhood. D’Souza went on to say that he later learned from an individual named Sunil Patil that a “token sum” of Rs. 50 lakh was being paid. PTI reported.
D’Souza also claimed that NCB officials are not corrupt. He went on to say that Gosavi, who was arrested in connection with a cheating case, and Prabhakar Sail, an independent witness in the drugs-on-cruise case, were calling each other over the phone by saving NCB Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhade’s name in their phones to make it appear as if he was in contact with them.
Last month, Sail stated in an affidavit that he overheard Gosavi discussing a $25 million transaction over the phone with Sam D’Souza in connection with the drugs case, of which $8 million was supposed to go to Sameer Wankhede. All allegations against Wankhede have been refuted as “baseless,” and he claims he performed a fair investigation into the cruise narcotics issue.
Following Sail’s claims of the payoff, a five-member team led by NCB deputy director general for the northern area, Gyaneshwar Singh, is investigating Wankhede and others.
The NCB special team has recorded the statements of eight people, including Wankhede, and gathered some key papers and recordings relevant to the cruise drugs case, according to officials. The team, however, failed to record Sail and Gosavi’s statements.