NCB SIT questions British national in Nawab Malik son-in-law Sameer Khan drug case

British national Karan Sajnani who was arrested in January by Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in connection with a drug case involving Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik’s son-in-law Sameer Khan, appeared before the special investigation team (SIT) on Wednesday

British national Karan Sajnani who was arrested in January by Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in connection with a drug case involving Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik’s son-in-law Sameer Khan, appeared before the special investigation team (SIT) on Wednesday. The agency has recorded his statement.

Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik’s son-in-law Sameer Khan was arrested on January 13 for the same case for dealing with commercial quantities of the drug and after eight months in jail, he was granted bail on September 27. (HT PHOTO)

Sajnani was questioned for four hours in NCB’s south Mumbai office, where he denied his involvement in the case and said he dealt in herbal smokable products. The SIT has summoned him again on Friday to record his further statement.

Sajnani’s advocate Sana Raees Khan said to the media, “Sajnani informed in his statement to SIT that he and Khan have been friends for 25 years but they are not partners in the business”. Sameer Khan was arrested on January 13 for the same case for dealing with commercial quantities of the drug and after eight months in jail, he was granted bail on September 27.

NCB team led by Sameer Wankhede raided the residence of Sajnani in Khar in the first week of January, this year and claimed that they allegedly seized around 194.600kg of imported strains of ganja. NCB further claimed at the time of the raid that Sajnani runs a trading business and has been living in Khar (West) for the past one and a half years. Sajnani’s arrest agency also arrested his associate Rahila Furniturewala from her Bandra residence in the same case.

Sajnani said before the court then that the found article at his residence was herbal smokable and is available on online platforms. He then also submitted to the court that he sells herbal smokeable which are made of rose petals and leaves and used by people who want to quit smoking. Agency claimed then that most of the seized contraband was sourced from America and 70kg of OG Kush (a high-quality strain of marijuana), was recovered from Sajnani’s Khar residence.

Sajnani’s advocate Sana Raees Khan said, “SIT is very fair and cooperative, not biased. They asked relevant questions and there was no pressure on making any statements. They were very keen on understanding the nature of the products seized and very interested to understand how the herbal products were marketed and were interested to know where the packaging material came from”.

SIT further asked him whether co-accused Khan is a part of his business. Sajnani replied in his statement that Khan has been his friend for 25 years but denied any business with him, added Khan. “Sajnani is happy with the way the investigation was conducted with such professionalism by the SIT and his full faith is restored towards the NCB because of the new SIT unit” added advocate Sana Raees.