Shocking Twist: Draft complaint named Aryan Khan but never filed, says Sameer Wankhede's petition

Sameer Wankhede, former NCB Zonal Director, is recently grabbing headlines post his chat with Shah Rukh Khan was revealed. He has now alleged before the Bombay High Court that the "draft complaint" in the 2021 drugs-on-cruise case initially included actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan as an accused, but his name was later removed. Wankhede made this assertion in his petition seeking to quash an FIR registered against him by the CBI, accusing him of seeking a bribe from Khan to avoid implicating his son in the drug bust.

In his petition, Wankhede also provided phone chat transcriptions between him and Shah Rukh Khan when Aryan was in NCB custody. The chats allegedly showed Khan requesting Wankhede to be lenient towards his son and praising the officer for his integrity.

According to Wankhede's petition, a draft complaint proposing charges against Aryan Khan and others was prepared by the Department's Legal Advisor. However, this draft complaint was not filed and was replaced by another draft from an external source, suggesting an intention to drop the name of a particular accused.

Although the NCB charged 14 individuals in the case, Aryan Khan was let off due to insufficient evidence. The plea claimed that Gyaneshwar Singh, the former NCB deputy director who led the inquiry against Wankhede, falsified records to indicate that Wankhede acted independently in the Aryan Khan case.

While Wankhede's advocate, Rizwan Merchant, argued that the CBI conducted a 14-hour search of his client's house in his absence, seizing his phone, slippers, and undergarments. The petition cited Sameer's phone chats with Shah Rukh Khan, contending that they did not indicate any demand for a bribe.