Sameer

Sameer Wankhede, the former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officer who oversaw the controversial arrest of Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan in October 2021, has spoken out about the high-profile episode. Wankhede’s interview comes just days after he raised legal objections to a scene in Aryan Khan’s directorial debut, The Ba*ds of Bollywood, claiming it was defamatory against him. In the interview, Wankhede gave a detailed, though technically indirect, defense of the arrest and the subsequent month-long custody, tackling accusations of corruption and the ‘scapegoat’ theory.

​Speaking on the Mama’s Couch YouTube channel, Sameer Wankhede initially acknowledged that he had signed an affidavit, which was submitted in the Bombay High Court, committing to not speaking about the Aryan Khan case to the media. Despite this constraint, as the interviewer continued to ask direct questions about the case, Wankhede chose to answer in detail, meticulously avoiding the explicit mention of Aryan Khan’s name while addressing the circumstances surrounding the arrest.

​Wankhede was pressed on why a person, referring to Aryan, was kept in custody for 25 days despite no drugs being found on them. Wankhede used this question to explain the broader legal scope of drug law enforcement, arguing that possession is not the sole factor in an arrest. “People have this misconception that if no drugs were found on you, there won’t be any action,” he explained. “If someone has been caught with drugs, then someone must have manufactured it, someone must have supplied it and there must be someone who is intending to buy it.”

​He continued to outline the investigative necessity of a wider dragnet: “Do you think that we should not arrest those who manufacture them, or those who are intending to buy them because both of them will not be in possession of drugs? The law entails that the entire chain should be arrested. No matter who is the one who has the possession,” he said, implying that the arrestee could have been involved in the supply or purchase chain even without direct possession.

​Defending the Arrest and Addressing Bribery Claims

​When the interviewer directly asked if the arrestee was made a “bali ka bakra (scapegoat)”, Wankhede firmly defended his stance and the investigative process. “Isme bali ka bakra koi banta nahi hai (There is no scapegoat in this),” he asserted. He then detailed the process that precedes any arrest, dismissing the notion that the action was arbitrary. “After a lot of thought, there is a conscious possession, there is some electronic evidence, there is some statement, so on the basis of that, the investigation is done.”

​Wankhede also reminded the public that the process of securing bail is complex and involves multiple legal clearances, not just the decision of one officer. “It’s not just Wankhede who is doing it all, there are a lot of procedures,” he said, listing the multiple legal channels that one has to go through to get their bail granted.

​The former NCB officer was also asked about the serious allegation of leaking his private conversations with Shah Rukh Khan, where the star was allegedly pleading with him. Wankhede flatly denied the accusation: “Leaking would be the wrong word here. It’s neither my habit, nor am I so weak to do such things. I don’t need to do such things.”

​Finally, he addressed the most serious charge leveled against him: the ₹25 crore bribery charge allegedly sought for Aryan Khan’s release. “You all saw the chats and I don’t want to repeat what is in the chats. I took action, and didn’t leave anyone. I will just say that I arrested, and nothing else,” he concluded, standing by his decision to proceed with the arrest regardless of the individual’s high-profile status.

​Aryan Khan was ultimately cleared of all drug charges by the NCB in 2022 due to a “lack of sufficient evidence,” closing the contentious legal chapter, but the public scrutiny surrounding the arrest clearly remains.