Rs 25 cr bribe: CBI books Aryan case NCB officer

NEW DELHI:The CBI has filed an FIR against former Narcotics Control Bureau officer Sameer Wankhede 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 on Friday.

Aryan Khan was arrested in the alleged drug bust case on the Cordelia cruise ship on October 2, 2021, they said. A coordinated search operation was launched on Friday at 29 locations in Mumbai, Delhi, Ranchi, Lucknow, Guwahati and Chennai after filing the FIR against the 2008-batch IRS officer Wankhede and four others — then NCB Superintendent Vishwa Vijay Singh, Intelligence Officer Ashish Ranjan and two private persons K P Gosavi and Sanvile D’Souza — in the case, they said.

The CBI booked Wankhede and others for alleged criminal conspiracy (120-B IPC), and threat of extortion (388 IPC) besides provisions pertaining to bribery under the Prevention of Corruption Act on a complaint from the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).

“It has been alleged that the said officials of the Narcotics Control Bureau of Mumbai Zone, to obtain undue advantage from the persons and others in the case…”, a CBI spokesperson said.