"There is nothing high or low profile, only facts are before us": Sameer Wankhede on Aryan Khan case

Mar 01, 2024

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], March 1 : Sameer Wankhede, former zonal director at the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) said that for officers under the oath of the Indian Constitution, there is nothing such as a high- or low-profile case, adding that only facts matter before the official.
Speaking on Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan's drugs-on-cruise case that happened in 2021, Wankhede said that the case did not make much difference to him and he was just following his duty.
"For me, all cases are equal. These pulls, pressures, and allegations have been part of my career. Whenever such cases come, when we take the oath under the Constitution, there cannot be any bias towards anyone. So there is no high- or low-profile case. Only facts are there before us. So it did not made much difference to me. I also got a medal for the best investigation that year. I don't know what happened after two months suddenly," Wankhede told ANI.
The Bombay High Court on Friday extended the relief from arrest given to former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Mumbai Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede till March 27 in connection with a money laundering case.The court has adjourned the matter till March 27.
The matter was adjourned after the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) sought time to file a short reply on Sameer Wankhede's petition challenging ED's Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) against him.
Further, the Bombay HC has listed a hearing of the case with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Wankhede on the same date.
The court was told that the Solicitor General would appear himself in both matters on that date.Earlier on February 10, the Enforcement Directorate initiated the money laundering case against Wankhede, acknowledging a CBI FIR that alleges a Rs 25 crore bribe demand by him from actor Shah Rukh Khan's family to spare his son in the drugs on cruise case.
Wankhede had expressed surprise that the ED's ECIR is based on a CBI FIR, which is under question before the Bombay HC.
Last year, the CBI booked Wankhede for allegedly demanding Rs 25 crore as a bribe for not framing actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan in the drugs-on-cruise case. The agency said that the deal was closed for Rs 18 crore, adding that Wankhade's assets were not proportionate to his known sources of income. The FIR copy said he was not able to justify expenses made during his foreign visit.