'Aryan Khan, pal Arbaaz Merchant were named in drugs FIR at last minute'

MUMBAI: Actor SRK's son Aryan and his friend Arbaaz Merchant were named as accused in the 2021 Cordelia cruise drug bust case at last moment by the NCB-Mumbai, then led by Sameer Wankhede, said an affidavit filed by IPS officer Gnyaneshwar Singh who had supervised the probe. The affidavit said information note was modified at the last moment and two names were included, while names of some other suspects were dropped.
Former NCB-Mumbai chief Sameer Wankhede has failed to appear before the CBI for recording his statement in a corruption case.

Later, Wankhede told TOI that "(Gnyaneshwar) Singh furnished a fabricated report .... and CAT had given a stay on the report".
In his affidavit in the Cordelia cruise drug bust case, Gnyaneshwar Singh said: "It appeared that the information note was modified at the last moment and the names of accused Aryan and Arbaaz were included at the last moment and the names of some other suspects were dropped from the original information note."

The affidavit further said that the series of lapses, one after the other, in the custody of Aryan is proof of the fact that it was compromised in an intentional manner to give an opportunity to Kiran Gosavi - a witness in the drug bust case and now an accused in the CBI case. The NCB later dropped the case against Aryan. The audio recording of Aryan circulated by Gosavi is again a procedural lapse. A selfie of Gosavi along with Aryan, hours after the cruiseliner raid, had gone viral.
The affidavit also mentioned about the tampering of the recording devices at the NCB office. "The CCTV equipment of the NCB office was collected by the Special Enquiry Team to verify the facts. However it was found that the same has gone corrupt. The DVR and the hard disc provided by the office of NCB Mumbai were different. It appears from the actions of the zone that the CCTV footage did have something important and the same was intentionally not provided to the SET," it added.

The affidavit also raises doubts on the release of one of the suspects, Saumya Singh, by the NCB despite recovery of rolling paper in her bag during the raid. She was in the same room as another arrested accused, model Munmun Dhamecha. "Allegation of settlement in the release of the suspect," it said.
Dhamecha, in a recent media interview, had questioned NCB decision to release Singh. Another suspect Siddarth Shah, who had admitted to having supplied charas to Merchant, was allowed to go. The NCB had claimed to have recovered 6gm of charas from Merchant.
The affidavit also speaks about NCB officers taking away valuables during the raid without documentation. One officer was repatriated for theft of an Apple watch from an accused. It further stated that during the cruiseliner raid, neither the phones of the suspects were seized with the panchanama nor there was a separate seizure memo. Thus, no formal documents were made for seizure of the phones.

Singh had filed the affidavit in response when Wankhede moved the Central Administrative Tribunal opposing the inquiry initiated against him. These observations were also part of the findings of the SET. Wankhede and Singh are at loggerheads. Singh is also a respondent in Wankhede's petition in the Delhi high court against the CBI action. Wankhede had asked for a counter-FIR against Singh.
Watch Another big REVELATION in Mumbai cruise drugs case: Aryan Khan's name was added to the FIR at last minute, claims Sameer Wankhede's ex-colleague