NCB officer Sameer Wankhede – linked to a ₹ 8 crore payoff – and KP Gosavi – the agency’s ‘independent witness’ whose unfettered access to Aryan has raised questions – can be seen in pictures that seem to strengthen critics’ claims about the Aryan Khan drugs case being a “fake”.
The images – taken on the same day (October 2) the agency raided a cruise ship anchored off the Mumbai coast and arrested Aryan Khan and seven others – are from inside offices at the city’s port.
They also show Mr Wankhede with Manish Bhanusali – a BJP worker who claimed to have supplied information that led to the raid, and was seen with two of those arrested on the raid night.
These photographs join others to have emerged from the day of the raid and arrests.
One set showed Mr Gosavi, who claims to be a private investigator, taking a selfie and several videos with Aryan Khan, leading Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik to ask how a ‘witness’ and a non-employee could have such unrestricted access to someone the NCB claims is “accused no. 1”.
Mr Gosavi – who reportedly went missing despite being a NCB witness and had a lookout notice issued against him – resurfaced yesterday declaring he wanted to surrender before police in Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow; he told this was because he felt “threatened” in Mumbai.