A man listed as an independent witness in the Mumbai cruise ship drugs case in which Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan has been arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau has in a notarised affidavit alleged a move to seek a bribe of Rs 25 crore.
Prabhakar Raghoji Sail, who introduces himself as personal bodyguard of fellow independent witness K.P. Gosavi, says that shortly after the raid he heard Gosavi speak over the phone to a man named Sam D’Souza about paying Rs 8 crore to NCB officer Sameer Wankhede.
Sail does not say what the purported payoff was for. But he adds that minutes after the conversation — which he says happened while he was in a car with Gosavi — a 15-minute meeting took place in a car between Gosavi, Sam and Shah Rukh’s manager Pooja Dadlani.
There was no response from Dadlani in the public domain till late evening though reports about the affidavit were circulating since afternoon.
Wankhede, NCB zonal director posted in Mumbai, told reporters he had done nothing wrong and would give a “fitting reply”.
Sail has claimed that after Aryan’s detention on October 2, he was called to the NCB office by Wankhede and asked to sign as a panch (witness) on 10 blank sheets of paper.
Sail, who has sent scanned images of the notarised affidavit to the media and also aired his allegations in a video, says he has done this because he fears that “NCB officials and other persons” would kill him. He suggests that Gosavi, who has disappeared, may have been kidnapped.
Legal experts said anyone can get a declaration notarised if they wish. Notarisation is not a certificate of truth but lends credibility to the declaration, and if the person making the declaration later backtracks they can be hauled up in court. A notarised affidavit can be placed before a court.
Little is known about Gosavi, who claims to be a “private detective agent” in his Facebook profile and was seen in a photo clicking a selfie with Aryan in the NCB office after the October 2 night raid. It raised the question what an outsider was doing in the NCB office.
Sail has not explained who Sam is.
A video shared by Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday showed Gosavi handing a mobile to Aryan, presumably in the NCB office the same night.
The NCB has not clarified Gosavi’s presence in its office that night beyond confirming he was an outsider and one of nine independent witnesses in the case.
In the affidavit, Sail says that after Aryan’s detention, “Gosavi was talking to Sam on the phone and stated that you put a bomb of 25 crores and let’s settle at 18 final because we have to give 8 crores to Sameer Wankhede”.
“Bomb” denotes an inflated figure mentioned at the start of negotiations so that the final settlement would seem like a bargain.
After the purported meeting that followed between Gosavi, Sam and Dadlani, Gosavi allegedly asked Sail to go to a spot near Indiana hotel and collect Rs 50 lakh in cash.
Sail says an occupant of a white car, whose last four numbers were 5102, handed him two bags of cash. He delivered the bags to Gosavi, he says, and later to Sam at his employer’s instructions.
In his affidavit, Sail says he had earlier accompanied Gosavi to the cruise ship on October 2.
Sail says: “...K.P. Gosavi is missing now and I now fear that NCB officials and other persons involve(d) may kill me or abduct me like Gosavi.”
The NCB, which reports to Union home minister Amit Shah, issued a statement saying Sail should submit his statement to the court.
Mutha Ashok Jain, NCB deputy director-general (southwest), said in a statement: “Affidavit by Prabhakar Sail, witness in a crime case of NCB has come to my notice. As he is witness and case is sub judice, he needs to submit his prayer to the court rather than on social media if he has anything to say.
“In addition, there are certain vigilance-related allegations against certain persons in the affidavit which are based on overhearing by Mr Prabhakar.... Our zonal director of Mumbai unit Sameer Wankhede has denied the allegation.”
