In a significant development in the bribery case involving Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Officer Sameer Wankhade, a former Intelligence Officer, Ashish Ranjan Prasad, has come forward with startling revelations that point towards a possible set-up in the drug case. Ashish, who is an accused in the CBI’s investigation against officials in the drug case, provided crucial information to the central agency.
According to reports, Ashish stated that the witness Kiran Gosavi was brought into the case with the approval of Sameer Wankhade. Kiran Gosavi, Prabhakar Sail, and BJP party worker Manish Bhanushali were allegedly present on Wankhade’s instruction during the detention of suspects from the cruise ship. Wankhade reportedly acknowledged knowing the men, contradicting his earlier statement where he claimed to have met them on the day of the drug bust case.
The revelations during an internal enquiry revealed multiple lapses in the case, raising questions about the handling of Aryan Khan’s arrest, son of Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan. Subsequently, the NCB dropped the case against Aryan, and he was given a clean chit by the court due to “lack of evidence.”
The case has been further marred by allegations of procedural lapses, including the circulation of audio recordings of Aryan Khan by Kiran Gosavi and the viral selfie of the witness with Aryan at the NCB office. Moreover, the Special Enquiry Team (SET) found that the CCTV footage, intended to verify the claims made in the case, was corrupted, and the DVR and hard disc provided by the NCB were different.
These revelations have added complexity to the already controversial drug case, raising serious questions about its integrity and credibility. The matter is now under the CBI’s scrutiny as investigations continue to shed light on the alleged discrepancies and possible manipulation within the case.