Twist In Aryan Khan Case: Witness Claims Payoff, Anti-Drugs Agency Denies

A witness in the drugs case against megastar Shah Rukh Khan's son, has made shocking claims of pay-offs to Narcotics Control Bureau's senior officer Sameer Wankhede. Prabhakar Sail said he heard his employer KP Gosavi -- the private investigator whose selfie with Aryan Khan went viral -- speak of a deal where 8 crore has to be paid to Mr Wankhede. The officer has denied any wrongdoing, saying he would give "a fitting reply".

In an affidavit, Prabhakar Sail -- who said he is a personal bodyguard of KP Gosavi -- claimed he was present in a car during a telephonic conversation between him and one Sam D'Souza.

"KP Gosavi was talking to Sam on the phone and stated that you put a bomb (exaggerated demand) of 25 crores and let's settle at 18 final because we have to give 8 crores to Sameer Wankhede," the affidavit read.

Minutes later, KP Gosavi, Sam D'Souza and Shah Rukh Khan's manager Pooja Dadlani, had a 15-minute meeting inside a car, he said. He also said he had received the cash from KP Gosavi and handed it over to Sam D'Souza.

Mr Sail -- the first of the nine witnesses named by the agency -- said KP Gosavi has gone missing and he feared for his life, which was why he filed the affidavit.

In the affidavit, Prabhakar Sail also gave a detailed account of the day on which the cruise ship was raided. He said he was present near the boarding area on October 2 and was asked to identify some people boarding the vessel. He said he was sent a series of photographs on WhatsApp to help with the identification.

"At about 10.30 pm I was called (by) KP Gosavi in the boarding area and I saw Aryan Khan in one of the cabins at the cruise boarding area. I saw one girl, Munmun Dhamecha and few others with NCB officials," he said in the affidavit.

After Aryan Khan and the others were taken to the NCB office, he said he was asked by Gosavi and Sameer Wankhede to sign some blank papers.

Prabhakar Sail said he was given two bags of cash, which he delivered to Sam D'Souza near Trident Hotel. The amount was Rs 38 lakh, he said in the affidavit.  

The NCB said in a statement that Prabhakar Sail being a witness I a case which is sub judice, has to "submit his prayer to the Honourable court rather than through social media". His affidavit has been forwarded to the Director General Narcotics Control Bureau "for further necessary action".

Sources in the agency have called the claims "baseless", questioning if money had changed hands, "why would someone be in jail". Alleging that the claims were made "just to malign the (agency's) image", officials said they never met Prabhakar Sail before October 2 and have "no idea about who he is".

Senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut has asked the police to "take cognizance" of the affidavit. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's remark was the case was meant to malign the Maharashtra government, appears to be coming true, he said.

Mr Raut also tweeted a new video, apparently from inside the NCB office, where KP Gosavi and Aryan Khan are seen sitting together. Aryan Khan is seen speaking into a phone held by Gosavi.
Aryan Khan is yet to receive bail in the case. The agency has told the court that his WhatsApp chats indicate he was in touch with an international cartel carrying on the drugs trade.