CBI books Sameer Wankhede for allegedly seeking bribe to not frame Aryan Khan

The CBI on Friday conducted searches at the premises of former NCB officer Sameer Wankhede after filing an FIR against him and four others for allegedly seeking Rs 25 crore bribe for not framing Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan in the drugs-on-cruise case, officials said.

Aryan Khan was arrested in an alleged drug bust case on the Cordelia cruise ship on October 2, 2021, they said.

The NCB, which had filed a charge-sheet in the drugs-on-cruise case, gave a clean chit to Aryan Khan, while an SIT set up by the anti-drugs agency claimed the probe led by Wankhede had lapses.

They said the searches were spread across 29 locations across Mumbai, Delhi, Ranchi and Kanpur.

It is alleged that IRS officer Wankhede and others had allegedly demanded Rs 25 crore bribe for not framing Aryan Khan in the alleged drug bust, they said.

The CBI received information that Rs 50 lakh was allegedly collected by the officer and his accomplice as advance, the officials said.

Wankhede, who headed the Narcotics Control Bureau in Mumbai at the time of Aryan Khan's arrest, was transferred to the Directorate General of Taxpayer Services in Chennai in May last year.