Sameer Wankhede faces CBI probe in ₹25 cr bribery case for not framing Aryan Khan in drug case

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a corruption case against former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officer Sameer Wankhede for seeking a bribe of ₹25 crore from the owners of Cordelia ship, where Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan was arrested in the alleged drug case. Four others have also been named in the same case for seeking a bribe of ₹25 crore for “not framing” Aryan Khan in the drugs case.

The investigation agency is also conducting raids at Sameer Wankhede's residence in connection with the bribery case. The officials privy to the case said the searches were spread across 29 locations across Mumbai, Delhi, Ranchi and Kanpur.

According to the reports, the CBI received information that Sameer Wankhede and his accomplice allegedly collected ₹50 lakh as advance to not frame Aryan Khan in the drug case, the officials said.

Aryan Khan was arrested in an alleged drug bust case on the Cordelia cruise ship on October 2, 2021. Sameer Wankhede had raided Cordelia Cruise at the Mumbai International Cruise Terminal and arrested Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan in an alleged drug case.

Initially, charges of drug possession, consumption, and trafficking were applied in the case. Aryan Khan spent 22 days in jail and was given a clean chit by the NCB in May 2022 due to “lack of sufficient evidence”.