Extortion case: SRK's manager Pooja Dadlani may be issued third summons, say cops

Dadlani is alleged to have paid a sum of ₹50 lakh to one Kiran Gosavi, an independent witness of the NCB, to get Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan released.

The Mumbai Police may issue a third summons on Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s manager Pooja Dadlani in an alleged extortion case.

Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan's manager Pooja Dadlani. (PTI)

Dadlani is alleged to have paid a sum of ₹50 lakh to an independent witness of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) after Khan’s son Aryan was detained from a Goa-bound ship off Mumbai’s coast early in October. She had earlier skipped the interrogation citing health reasons.

Dadlani has already been issued two summons. Police said, so far, 20 people have recorded their statements in the case.

The NCB has claimed to have seized drugs onboard following the raid. Aryan and two of his friends were granted bail by the Bombay high court after having spent more than 20 days behind bars.

The sensational case that saw several twists and turns turned into a political potboiler after Maharashtra home minister levelled extortion allegations against the NCB’s Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede.

This was after independent witness Prabhakar Sail last month claimed that he had overheard Kiran Gosavi discussing a pay-off deal of ₹25 crore with one Sam D'Souza over phone after Khan was detained.

The Mumbai Police later constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the allegations against NCB officials in connection with the case.

The NCB's vigilance team is also probing the pay-off allegations in the case.

D'Souza, who appeared before the Mumbai Police on Monday, had earlier claimed in his pre-arrest bail application that Gosavi had taken ₹50 lakh from Dadlani to get Aryan released. The money was returned after the NCB arrested him on October 3, the application said.

(With agency inputs)