Sam D'Souza joins 2nd round of CBI probe in Aryan Khan drug case

NEW DELHI: Sam D’Souza, the accused involved in the extortion demand of Rs 25 crore in the Aryan Khan drug case, on Wednesday joined the second round of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe at its headquarters here.

On Tuesday, D’Souza was grilled by the CBI team for around nine hours.

D’Souza has now joined the ongoing CBI probe and is currently being questioned.

The case is filed against former Mumbai zone NCB Director Sameer Wankhede and four others.

D’Souza was summoned thrice in the case. He reportedly skipped two summons. On Tuesday, he arrived at the CBI headquarters in Delhi with his lawyers to join the probe.

“Sam D’Souza arrived with his lawyers. The CBI had summoned him on Wednesday at 10.30 a.m. for questioning at the CBI headquarters in Delhi,” said a source.

“D’Souza had struck a deal between Shah Rukh Khan’s manager and K.P. Gosavi (a witness). D’Souza had told Khan that he would help him in the case,” the source said.

He had approached the Bombay High Court seeking anticipatory bail, but his plea was dismissed.

It was Prabhakar Sail, the witness in the case, who had made the shocking revelations that D’Souza and Gosavi were planning to extort Rs 25 crore from Shah Rukh Khan for the release of his son Aryan Khan. Later, Sail died under mysterious circumstances.

“On October 2, 2021, Aryan Khan was brought to NCB’s Mumbai Zone office where D’Souza and Gosavi were also present, as per Sail. He (Sail) had heard their conversation about the deal of Rs 25 crore,” said the source.

Previously, Wankhede was interrogated by the CBI in Mumbai. Wankhede too has approached the Bombay High Court, which granted him protection from arrest till June 23.

The accessed FIR reveals shocking revelations.

“Sameer Wankhede is accused of engaging in the buying and selling of expensive watches without disclosing this information. He also allegedly concealed details of his expenses during his foreign trips,” stated the CBI source, quoting the FIR.

The CBI has mentioned that while some individuals were caught on the Cordelia cruise ship, Aryan Khan was arrested. It also mentioned that KP Goswami, who appeared as an NCB official, was responsible for Aryan Khan’s arrest. He was presented in such a way that he seemed like an officer of the NCB. Later, a demand of Rs 25 crore was made for a settlement, which was eventually negotiated down to Rs 8 crore. Initially, Rs 50 lakh was taken, but later some of the money was returned due to the case getting stuck.

The NCB arrested Aryan Khan on October 3, 2021. Later, the Bombay High Court granted him bail on October 28, 2021. Aryan Khan spent 25 days in jail.

On May 27, 2022, the NCB filed a charge sheet in the drug-seize matter, giving a clean chit to Aryan Khan. The agency had said that there was not enough evidence against Aryan Khan. The charge sheet was filed against 14 persons by the NCB.

Later, as per the SIT report, which was initiated into the matter, the CBI lodged an FIR against Wankhede, D’Souza, and others.