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Sanville alias Sam D’Souza, a co-accused in the CBI extortion case against former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) zonal director Sameer Wankhede, has petitioned the Bombay High Court to dismiss the case against him. In the case pending his plea, D’Souza has also requested temporary respite through his attorney Pankaj Jadhav.
In the Cordelia Cruise ship drug bust case, D’Souza is accused of brokering a deal between actor Shah Rukh Khan’s manager Pooja Dadlani and witness K P Gosavi to ‘help’ the actor’s son Aryan Khan, according to a report in Indian Express. The CBI FIR dealt with the alleged demand by Wankhede and others for a bribe of Rs 25 crore from the relatives of individuals detained in the 2021 case, including Aryan.
D’Souza claimed that certain politicians from the then-ruling government had used his name in press conferences and asked for protection from arrest when he filed a complaint in 2021 opposing the Mumbai Police Special Investigation Team’s (SIT) investigation into complaints of alleged extortion against NCB officers and other private individuals. He stated that Gosavi had merely pretended to be in touch with him and that Wankhede had no part in the purported arrangement in his anticipatory release request, which was submitted to the high court in November 2021. D’Souza allegedly had Gosavi refund the funds after learning he was a ‘fraud’.
Additionally, D’souza stated that Prabhakar Sail and the other five witnesses, Gosavi, were ‘fraud and main conspirators’ who had stolen Rs 50 lakh from Dadlani in order to secure Aryan’s release. He also stated that Gosavi had merely pretended to be in touch with him and that Wankhede had no part in the purported arrangement in his anticipatory release request, which was submitted to the high court in November 2021. D’Souza allegedly had Gosavi refund the funds after learning he was a ‘fraud’.
The temporary protection from coercive action for former NCB zonal director Wankhede in the CBI’s bribery case was extended until June 8 by a vacation bench of the high court on May 22, subject to him meeting certain requirements, during the hearing of his petition to dismiss the FIR. The court ordered Wankhede to refrain from making public appearances, publishing information on the topic of the petition or inquiry via WhatsApp or any other platform, or tampering with evidence in any manner.
