The officer further said that in addition to recording statements of various concerned persons, the NCB is gathering material evidence to assist its probe. NCB Deputy DG Gyaneshwar Singh, who is conducting a vigilance probe against the central agency’s Mumbai Zonal Unit Director Sameer Wankhede, on Tuesday met Mumbai Police Commissioner Hemant Nagrale seeking CCTV camera footage of certain areas in the city relevant to the probe. Sources said Singh sought CCTV footage of six spots in the city and is likely to be provided the same.
An NCB officer said that Singh sought CCTV footage of the areas near Cordelia cruise, Lower Parel, Worli and the NCB office among other places. “These are the places where it has been alleged that money had changed hands in connection to extortion allegations made in the cruise ship drug raid case,” the officer added.
The officer further said that in addition to recording statements of various concerned persons, the NCB is gathering material evidence to assist its probe.
Meanwhile, Prabhakar Sail, a witness in the case who had alleged that money was sought for “helping” actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan – who was arrested following the raid – was called for recording his statement on Wednesday after he was questioned on Monday.
The NCB SIT, which has been handed over six cases, including the Aryan Khan case, on Tuesday issued summons to UK national Karan Sajnani – arrested along with Sameer Khan, son-in-law of NCP Minister Nawab Malik, who has been making allegations against Wankhede. Sources said the NCB will soon summon Khan as well to record his statement.
Sources close to Malik said that a chargesheet has already been filed in the Sameer Khan case. “After the investigation is complete and the chargesheet filed, what is the point in re-investigating the case?” the source asked.
An NCB officer, however, said the central agency is investigating if there are any international links to the accused arrested in the case. “If we find any additional evidence, we can make more arrests and file a supplementary chargesheet,” the officer added.
Even in the Aryan Khan case, the NCB has issued summons to the arrested accused. While the statement of Arbaaz Merchant, who was arrested with Aryan, has been recorded, Aryan has so far not appeared before the NCB. An officer said that in case Aryan does not appear before the SIT in the next two days, he is likely to be summoned again.
Meanwhile, sources said that in addition to the two complaints filed against Nawab Malik under the SC/ST Act, another complaint has been filed in Aurangabad by Wankhede’s paternal aunt. Prior to this, complaints had been filed against Malik at Oshiwara police station in Andheri and Washim.
The source said that Wankhede’s sister-in-law would also approach the police in connection to Malik naming her on social media, causing her mental distress. Malik had questioned Wankhede on Twitter whether his sister-in-law had a narcotics case registered against her.
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