Wankhede case: two NCB officers’ ED record statements; case transferred to Delhi

MUMBAI: In an effort to learn more about the missing CCTV footage connected to the arrest of actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan in the 2021 Cordelia drugs bust case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has recorded the statements of two Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officials in a money laundering case against IRS officer Sameer Wankhede.

The Special Enquiry Team of the NCB has claimed that Aryan’s name was later included to the intelligence data known as the “I-note.” Following that, NCB abandoned the lawsuit against Aryan. On Tuesday, the Bombay High Court was notified by the ED that the matter has been moved to its Delhi office for further administrative investigation. Wankhede is advised to seek any necessary remedy from the Delhi High Court in this regard. Wankhede had already sought protection from the Bombay High Court and contested the ED case against him. Wankhede’s attorney objected to the ED’s decision to move the case, referring to it as “malafide” in order to prevent Wankhede from receiving a hearing on Tuesday.
Along with Wankhede’s identical appeal from last year contesting the CBI’s corruption-extortion charge against him, the Bombay High Court will hear the issue on Thursday. Since the ED’s money laundering case is predicated on the CBI’s FIR, Wankhede requested the same judicial protection that he was granted in the CBI case.
Since the full cause of action is there, and the CBI’s Delhi section is investigating the matter, the ED chose to move its case there. Additionally, the CBI filed a case against Wankhede, a Delhi-based business, based on a complaint made by the NCB’s Vigilance Department.
Following the summons to three NCB officers, the ED, which filed a money laundering case against Wankhede a few months ago, stepped up its probe last week. The ED has taped the testimonies of the two personnel who were formerly working at the zonal office of the NCB in Mumbai.
One of the officials was employed by the administrative department, which was also in charge of the CCTV system in the office. The second officer, on the other hand, worked on the Aryan Khan inquiry and helped prepare the I-list, which was later changed to add Aryan Khan’s name to the list of suspects. Following the bribery issue, the NCB established a special enquiry team (SET) led by IPS officer Gnyaneshwar Singh to look into Wankhede’s and his team’s actions. The SET discovered many instances of carelessness in the case. After that, the SET suggested filing a CBI complaint against Wankhede and his important team members and offered Aryan Khan the benefit of the doubt in the matter.
The Special Enquiry Team (SET) gathered the NCB office’s CCTV equipment in order to confirm the facts. But it was discovered that the same had been tainted. The NCB Mumbai office gave a separate hard disc than the DVR. Based on the Zone’s conduct, it seems that the CCTV film had something significant, which was purposefully withheld from the SET.
Additionally, according to the SET, “it appeared that the information note was modified at the last minute, and the names of some other suspects were dropped from the original information note and the names of accused Aryan Khan and Arbaaz were added at the last minute.”