Aryan Khan case twist: NCB witness drops 'Rs 25 crore bomb'; agency denies allegation

By Vipin Vijayan | First Published Oct 24, 2021, 7:07 PM IST

In a major twist in the Mumbai cruise party case involving Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan, an independent witness has made sensational claims that cast a shadow on the probe being done by the Narcotics Control Bureau.

The witness, Prabhakar Sail has claimed that he heard his employer, K P Gosavi -- whose selfie with Aryan Khan in NCB custody went viral, speak of a deal where Rs 8 crore was to be paid to NCB's Mumbai Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede. In a notarized affidavit, Sail claimed that the Wankhede told him to sign on 10 blank sheets as a 'Panch' witness. Gosavi and Sail are panch witnesses to the drug seizure from Aryan Khan's friend Arbaaz Merchant.

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In his five-page affidavit, Sail alleged that Gosavi asked him to reach the NCB office in Mumbai in the morning of October 2, the day the agency raised the private party on board the Cordelia Cruises’ Empress ship. Sail claimed Gosavi asked him to be near the waiting area for the cruise at the Green Gate and was told to identify suspects using photos sent to his WhatsApp number.

He alleged that he overheard Gosavi talking over the phone to a person named Sam D'Souza, with whom the latter had met about 500 meters from the NCB office earlier in the day. Gosavi allegedly told Sam to drop a bomb of Rs 25 crore and settle for Rs 18 crore, Sail claimed, adding that an amount of Rs 8 crore was intended for Wankhede.

Sail claims that minutes later a blue-colour Mercedes arrived in which he claims to have seen came to the spot and Sail saw Shah Rukh Khan's manager Pooja Dadlani. In his affidavit, Sail claims that Gosavi and Sam got into the Mercedes and spoke for around 15 minutes. He goes on to say that after the meeting, he and Gosavi left for Vashi from where the former told him to take a car and head to the Tardeo signal near Indiana hotel to collect Rs 50 lakh cash. He collected the amount and handed it over to Gosavi, who is currently gone underground.

Sail said that he filed the affidavit because he feared for his life. To recall, Sail is among the nine witnesses named by the NCB in the raid.

NCB denies Sail's allegations

After the claims of the case witness exploded on media networks, NCB Deputy Director General (South West Region) Mutha Ashok Jain issued a statement in which he said that as a witness in the case, Sail should have submitted his prayers before a court rather than on social media. There are vigilance-related allegations against certain persons which are based on an alleged overheard conversation by Sail, Jain said, adding that the affidavit has been forwarded to the NCB Director-General for further action. Wankhede too has denied the allegations.

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