Refuting the Narcotics Control Bureau's (NCB) allegations of not cooperating with the agency to record his statement, lawyers of Prabhakar Sail, the independent witness in the Mumbai cruise ship drug bust case who made headlines after levelling allegations of extortion by NCB chief Sameer Wankhede, said that he is not hiding from the agency.
The NCB, which had constituted a vigilance team to investigate the extortion charges levelled by Prabhakar Sail, has said it is yet to record his statement. It even wrote to the Mumbai Police seeking help to record Prabhakar Sail’s statement.
In a letter to NCB Mumbai Zonal Director, Prabhakar Sail's lawyers said that he has not received any summons from the inquiry committee nor has the NCB visited him in connection with the inquiry. "If official summons are sent, then Prabhakar Sail will cooperate with the agency," the letter read.
Advocate Hemant Ingle said, “The NCB needs to follow proper procedure. “He’s not hiding as is being said. He’s in Mumbai and willing to cooperate. But if the NCB wants to take his statement, then proper procedure will have to be followed. We have come (to the NCB office) to tell NCB the same.”
Prabhakar Sail, bodyguard of another witness KP Gosavi, alleged that he had overheard KP Gosavi telling one Sam D’Souza over the phone, after Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan was brought to the NCB office following the October 2 raid on the cruise ship, about a demand of Rs 25 crore and “to settle at Rs 18 crore as they had to give Rs 8 crore to Sameer Wankhede to release Aryan Khan”.
KP Gosavi is currently behind bars for a cheating case in Pune. His selfie and a video with Aryan Khan after the raid had gone viral.
The NCB had busted an alleged drugs party on the Goa-bound Cordelia Cruise ship at mid-sea on October 2 and 20 people were arrested in the case.
Aryan Khan, co-accused Arbaaz Merchant and fashion model Munmun Dhamecha were arrested by the NCB on October 3 and booked under relevant sections of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) for possession, consumption, sale/purchase of banned drugs, conspiracy and abetment.
Aryan Khan, Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha were granted bail on Thursday by the Bombay High Court, 25 days after their arrest.