Mumbai police to probe if cruiser raid was 'fake': Dilip Walse-Patil

In a major development, Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse-Patil on Monday indicated that in the wake of the recent Bombay High Court observations in the Aryan Khan bail matter, the Mumbai Police would probe if the Narcotics Control Bureau raid on a cruise ship was "fake" or not.

In the detailed order on the bail pleas of Khan, Munmun Dhameha and Arbaaz Merchant, Justice Nitin Sambre had said that there was "prima facie no positive evidence" against them on the NCB's charges pertaining to "conspiracy and common intent" in the case.

When questioned, Walse-Patil said that against this backdrop, the city police will investigate if the raid on the Cordelia Cruise ship, led by NCB Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede was 'fake' or otherwise.

This will be the second probe into the case by the Mumbai Police which is already probing the charges of 'extortion' levelled by a NCB witness against Wankhede since October 27.

A 4-member team overseen by Additional Commissioner of Police Dilip Sawant is conducting the investigations and has already recorded the statements of several players in the case including the NCB's witnesses.

Besides, the NCB is conducting its own probe into the case that became vitiated after Wankhede faced several allegations, including allowing some outsiders and political activists to handle the detenus during the high-profile raid on October 2.

Nationalist Congress Party Minister Nawab Malik has been running a campaign targeting Wankhede on various counts like the 'farzi' (fraudulent) raid on the ship, targeting high-profile personalities to derive maximum publicity, allegedly making an extortion demand from Shah Rukh Khan to release his son Aryan, and allegedly submitting fake documents to corner a plum job in the IRS in a reserved category.

The NCB, after the ship raid, arrested a total of 20 persons, a majority of who have secured bail, including Khan, Dhamecha and Merchant, and triggered a major political row.