By Munish Chandra Pandey: Former head of Mumbai Zone Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Sameer Wankhede, will not be appearing before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday, sources told India Today.

The central probe agency has given oral assurance to Delhi High Court that they will not summon Sameer Wankhede on Thursday, on the condition that he writes to CBI and asks the summoning to be deferred till Monday, May 22.

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CBI had summoned former NCB chief in connection with an extortion case pertaining to Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan who was arrested along with others in a drugs case.

Wankhede has been accused of trying to extort Rs 25 crore from Aryan Khan’s family, through other members of the NCB and a few individuals. Later on, the amount was reduced to Rs 18 crore, and a token amount of Rs 50 lakh was reportedly paid.

Based on reports, the NCB DDG Gyaneshwar Singh submitted a report to the CBI, leading to the registration of a case by the investigative agency.

In the report, Singh recommended that a case be filed against Sameer Wankhede, V.V. Singh (then Superintendent of NCB), and Ashish Ranjan (the former investigating officer of the case).

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Sameer Wankhede, an IRS officer currently serving in DGTS Chennai, will be required to appear at the CBI’s Mumbai zone office to provide his statement for recording.

Meanwhile, Sameer Wankhade has said he was being punished for being a patriot, a day after the Central Bureau of Investigation, or the CBI, raided his Mumbai home for 13 hours.

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“The CBI raided my residence yesterday and serched for more than 12 hours. They found Rs 18,000 and four property papers. These assets were acquired before I joined the service,” Wankhede told India Today TV, adding, “This is the punishment for being a patriot.”

Wankhede had arrested Aryan Khan after raiding a rave party on the Cordelia cruise on October 2, 2021. Aryan Khan remained in the police’s custody for 26 days and spent several days in Mumbai’s Arthur Road Jail, before he was granted bail for lack of evidence.