Cruise drugs raid case: Prabhakar Sail questioned for second day by NCB vigilance team

A vigilance team of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) questioned Prabhakar Sail, a key witness in the cruise ship drug raid case for the second consecutive day on Tuesday

A vigilance team of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) questioned Prabhakar Sail, a key witness in the cruise ship drug raid case for the second consecutive day on Tuesday.

The NCB instituted a vigilance probe (referred to as a special enquiry team) under Deputy Director General Gyaneshwar Singh on October 25, following the allegations made in a notarised affidavit filed by Prabhakar Sail on October 23. (HT PHOTO)

Sail, who made his first appearance before the agency on Monday, was questioned in the Central Reserve Police Force’s mess in Bandra (West) for nine hours. He was accompanied by his lawyer Tushar Khandare.

The NCB instituted a vigilance probe (referred to as a special enquiry team) under Deputy Director General Gyaneshwar Singh on October 25, following the allegations made in a notarised affidavit filed by Sail on October 23.

In the affidavit, Sail claimed to have overheard a phone call between his employer Kiran P Gosavi — another witness in the cruise ship drug raid case — and Sam D’Souza. “You put a bomb of 25 crores and let’s settle at 18 final, because we have to give 8 crores to Sameer Wankhede,” Gosavi told a certain person named Sam D’Souza, the affidavit stated.

Wankhede, NCB zonal director conducted a raid on Cordelia, a cruise ship docked in Mumbai on October 2, which led to the arrest of at least 20 persons including Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son, Aryan (23).

Sail also claimed in his affidavit that Gosavi met Khan’s lawyer, Pooja Dadlani, and purportedly struck a deal of taking ₹50 lakh in exchange for Aryan’s release.

On Tuesday Gyaneshwar Singh also met Mumbai police commissioner Hamant Nagrale and requested access to CCTV footage of certain sites mentioned in Sail’s affidavit where Gosavi purportedly met Dadlani. Nagrale confirmed meeting Singh but refused to divulge further details.

On Monday, Singh and his team also visited the cruise ship and Tardeo, where Sail reportedly collected two bags containing ₹50 lakh from Dadlani, as per his affidavit.

The vigilance team arrived in Mumbai on October 27 and has recorded the statement of eight persons, including Wankhede and investigating officer V.V Singh.

Wankhede has denied all allegations made in the affidavit.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of NCB Delhi led by Sanjay Singh, which took over the investigation of six cases registered by Mumbai NCB this year, including the cruise ship drug raid case, summoned Karan Sajnani, a British national accused in a case involving Nationalist Congress Party leader Nawab Malik’s son-in-law, Sameer Khan. Sajnani has been asked to meet the NCB on Wednesday to record his statement. Sajnani was arrested by Mumbai NCB in January after the agency raided in his flat at Khar where they allegedly seized around 200 kg of imported strains of ganja. Sameer Khan and Sajnani are out on bail.