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Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan spent almost a month in custody after he was arrested in October 2021 from an alleged rave party. Sameer Wankhede, the officer in-charge of his arrest, recently spoke about the episode in an interview. This was days after Sameer had objected to a scene in Aryan’s show The Ba***ds of Bollywood and claimed that it was defamatory against him. In the interview, Sameer implied that as a part of his job, he was required to make the arrest, even though the arrestee did not possess any drugs on him. He was also asked if Aryan was the ‘bali ka bakra’ (scapegoat) in this situation, and if there was any truth to the accusation that he asked for Rs 25 crore in exchange for Aryan’s release.
In a chat with Mama’s Couch YouTube channel, Sameer made it clear that he had signed an affidavit, submitted in Bombay High Court, saying that he would not be speaking about Aryan Khan’s case to the media. However, as the interviewer continued to ask him direct questions about Aryan’s case, Sameer answered in detail, but stayed clear of mentioning Aryan’s name. He was asked why Aryan was kept in custody for 25 days, even though he did not possess any drugs, and to this, Sameer said that when they arrest someone, it is not necessary for them to have drugs on them.
“People have this misconception that if no drugs were found on you, there won’t be any action. 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. 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 Aryan could have belonged to either of those categories.
When he was directly asked if Aryan was made “bali ka bakra (scapegoat)”, Sameer defended his stance and said that this was not the case. “Isme bali ka bakra koi banta nahi hai (There is no scapegoat in this),” he said and added, “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,” he then continued to list the multiple legal channels that one has to go through to get their bail granted. “It’s not just Wankhede who is doing it all, there are a lot of procedures.”
Sameer was also accused of leaking his conversations with Shah Rukh Khan where the star was allegedly pleading with him. When asked about this, he said, “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.” He was also asked about the Rs 25 crore bribery charge levelled against him and he said, “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.”
Aryan was cleared of all the drug charges in 2022.
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