National News
Cordelia Drugs Case: Sameer Wankhede Alleges Ex-Boss, Gyaneshwar Singh Of Torturing Witnesses To Implicate Him
The blame game between IRS officer and former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) zonal director Sameer Wankhede and his former senior Gyaneshwar Singh, based on whose complaint the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had registered an alleged corruption and extortion FIR against the former, has intensified, with Wankhede accusing Singh of threatening and torturing people to implicate him.
Wankhede came into the limelight after arresting actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan in an alleged drug bust case on the cruise ship Cordelia Cruises in October 2021. He has approached the Bombay high court seeking quashing of the FIR registered against him by the CBI.
The affidavit
In a surrejoinder affidavit filed by Wankhede before the high court, he has submitted three audio clips, currently in the custody of the CBI, in which conversations reveal how Singh allegedly tortured witnesses and how one of the witnesses, Viral Rajan, purportedly told him as early as October 2022 that Shah Rukh Khan had revealed that a Delhi team would be re-investigating the entire Cordelia drug case.
Wankhede has alleged that Gyaneshwar Singh had threatened and tortured his family friend, Viral Rajan, from whom Wankhede’s wife, Kranti Redkar, had purchased expensive watches. The Wankhedes had vacationed with Rajan’s family in the Maldives.
His affidavit alleges that Gyaneshwar Singh threatened with abusive language, physically constrained and forced Rajan to implicate Wankhede. “However, when Mr Viral Rajan refused to do so, he was threatened with harm to his life and limb. A fake medical test was undertaken taken of Mr Viral Rajan, his nails were picked and a medical blood test has been done, which has been manipulated to threaten and pressurise him. Further, Mr Viral Rajan was also illegally detained in a lock-up to exert pressure to implicate me. Mr Viral Rajan was also threatened with the falsifying and tarnishing of his image in front of the media,” read Wankhede’s affidavit.
The IRS officer has further claimed that Rajan informed him on October 2, 2022, that actor Shah Rukh Khan had told him that a special Delhi team would re-investigate the entire Cordelia episode. This shows that the investigation initiated by the CBI, based on the NCB’s complaint approved by Singh, was with the ‘intention of vendetta’, in ‘retaliation’ for the complaint filed by Wankhede with the National Commission for the Scheduled Castes in September 2022 and to please Shah Rukh Khan.
Wankhede has also alleged that witnesses who were questioned during the inquiry were also threatened to make false statements. He has attached the transcript of the recording of a witness, Vijay Pratap Singh, who is also named as an accused by the NCB’s special enquiry team (SET) from Delhi, wherein he has said that he (Vijay Pratap Singh) accompanied prime witness Samville D’Souza and that D’Souza was beaten up to give ‘false testimony’, to name Wankhede.
“Samville D’Souza was a crucial person in the entire investigation conducted by the SET and the manner in which the witnesses were being questioned about me by means of coercion, threat and physical attack makes it evident how the entire enquiry and Mr Gyaneshwar Singh has been against me with mala fide intentions,” adds Wankhede’s affidavit.
Interestingly, Wankhede has submitted a transcript of the recording with one of the defence advocates, where he has said how his client was forced by the Delhi SET to give a statement that no recovery was made in the drug bust case registered by the IRS officer.
The press note
Wankhede has also reproduced the press note issued by the Gyaneshwar Singh, on behalf of the NCB on October 6, 2021, after the raid on the Cordelia and justified the action. Singh had then observed that the “seizure memos were drawn as per the provisions established by the law” and had named the independent witnesses, including Kiran Gosavi, who clicked a selfie with Aryan Khan.
The press note, Wankhede observes, had specifically mentioned that a total of 17 persons, including a foreigner, were arrested. “Various drugs like Ecstasy, Mephedrone, Hydroponic Weed @ Multi strain Cannabis & Charas etc have been recovered, including few commercial quantities of drugs, which is a serious concern. Continuous drug recoveries in the follow-up operations indicate towards the large network in this drug menace spoiling the younger generation. Investigation of the case is in progress to unearth the entire chain and network,” Singh’s press note had said.
Justifying Aryan Khan’s arrest, Wankhede has claimed that in all, there were five officers who conducted the seizures, including Ashish Rajan. The SET is focused on Ashish Rajan, since he recovered contraband from Aryan’s friend, Arbaaz Merchant, who was allegedly carrying charas for the actor’s son.
Wankhede has refuted the allegations made by Prabhakar Sail, Kiran Gosavi’s bodyguard, that a deal was brokered between Shah Rukh Khan and an NCB officer, to pay money for not arresting Aryan. Accordingly, Shah Rukh Khan’s manager Pooja Dadlani had paid Rs 50 lakh, which was collected by Sail. Sail’s statement is based on “hearsay evidence and does not give any direct evidence against me,” Wankhede’s affidavit says.
The IRS officer has said that his chats with his senior officer show that the charges which were allegedly ”thrust” on him regarding the “selective arrest of Aryan Khan” was raised by the SET and the same is pending before the Central Administrative Tribunal.” In the said chats, it becomes clear that the arrest (of Aryan Khan) was made in consultation with four superior officers, including the DG (Director General), DDG (Deputy Director general) and also the learned public prosecutor,” Wankhede has said in his affidavit.
Further, the affidavit reads: “Surprisingly, the stand of Mr Gyaneshwar Singh changed completely when he became the SET chairperson, to investigate the complaint and allegations against me, violating the basic principles of law, thereby being a judge in his own actions and covering up his own tracks and his own commissions and omissions at the cost of making false, frivolous and baseless allegations on me.”
Regarding the chats with Shah Rukh Khan, Wankhede said that by no means would any father have discussed such topics, including ethics, integrity, and national service with a person who has extorted money from him, Wankhede has said. “It is only a figment of imagination and of malice and personal vendetta of Mr Gyaneshwar Singh against me, which led to such ill-conceived conclusion to misguide the CBI and register a false FIR against me,” it adds.
National News
One year of e-office: Delhi govt processes 75 pc of file work online

New Delhi, June 28: More than 75 per cent of Delhi government work is now done through the e-Office system, said Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Sunday as the electronic file system approaches its first anniversary on July 1.
The Chief Minister said the reach of the e-Office system has expanded since April 13, with 120 of the 132 government departments, about 91 per cent, using it regularly.
Similarly, 36 of the 55 public sector undertakings, boards, corporations, commissions, committees, autonomous and local bodies, or about 65.5 per cent, are using the system, she said in a statement.
Among universities, colleges and other educational institutions, 21 out of 48 institutions, or about 43.8 per cent, have adopted e-Office. Overall, 177 of the 235 departments and offices, about 75.3 per cent, are now regularly carrying out official work through the e-Office system, said Chief Minister Gupta.
She said, earlier, most official work was carried out through paper files. Today, file movement, correspondence and approvals are handled online.
This has accelerated file disposal, improved transparency and accountability in government functioning, and helped ensure the timely delivery of public services, she said.
The Chief Minister said the e-Office system now makes it easy to identify which official is handling a particular file and what action has been taken on it. The system has also made record-keeping more secure, reduced unnecessary delays and enabled smoother coordination among departments.
This is why the Delhi government is steadily expanding the system to cover more departments and institutions.
She said by June 27, a total of 15,748 officers and employees across 235 departments and offices were using e-Office for online file processing and official work.
Chief Minister Gupta said that since the functioning of all departments and institutions is not the same, the Delhi government has developed the e-Office system under three separate categories.
The first is meant exclusively for government departments; the second for public sector undertakings, boards, corporations, commissions, committees, autonomous bodies and local bodies; and the third for universities, colleges and other educational institutions.
This has enabled each category to function more effectively according to its specific requirements. Accordingly, the use of e-Office was made mandatory across all Delhi government departments from July 1, 2025.
Crime
Police raid premises of all eight accused in Ram Temple embezzlement case

Ayodhya, June 28: Police on Sunday conducted searches at the residences of all the eight accused, arrested in connection with alleged misappropriation of donations and offerings at the Ram Mandir.
This comes after the eight individuals were sent to three-day judicial custody on Friday. They will stay in jail till June 29 and will be produced before the city court again on Monday.
Krishna Nand Tiwari, a neighbour of accused Anukalp Mishra, said: “Action is being taken, brother (Mishra) or whoever is involved in this, whoever has committed theft or wrongdoing, they should be given the strictest punishment. They should be ashamed of their act, especially since it is related to God. They have betrayed the faith of crores of devotees.”
About the accused, he said: “Though he (Mishra) didn’t come across as such a kind of person, but one can never gauge anybody’s intentions.”
Another neighbour, Anurag, said he had known Mishra for around a year. “He was a person of good nature; we used to greet each other whenever we met. But I don’t know if he had any malicious intention,” he told media.
Accused Tinnu Yadav’s neighbour Tara Devi said: “Tinnu is like a brother. Searches at his home will only take place when all the neighbours are around.”
Asserting that Yadav was a good person, she claimed: “He is being framed.”
A total of eight accused have been booked for alleged theft at the temple, and all were subsequently arrested. The FIR was registered at Ayodhya Kotwali police station on Thursday, based on a complaint filed by Krishna Mohan, a member of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.
Those named in the case include Ramshankar Yadav (alias Tinnu), who is associated with temple management; Trust employees Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Manish Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Mishra, and Avinash Shukla; and retired bank employee Subhash Srivastava.
The filing of the case came soon after a three-member SIT flagged several irregularities at multiple levels in its preliminary report.
The police state that the entire episode of alleged theft will be uncovered based on interrogation of the accused and CCTV-based evidence. If more names are revealed in the investigation, action will be taken against them as well.
The preliminary probe has highlighted key roles played by each accused at various levels. The role of Ramshankar Yadav, alias Tinnu Yadav, is particularly under increased scrutiny.
Crime
Railway authorities carry out eviction drive in Kolkata’s Park Circus station area

Kolkata, June 28: The railway authorities have conducted a significant eviction operation at the Park Circus station area in Kolkata, clearing illegal shops from land owned by the Indian Railways.
Earlier this month, the authorities issued notifications to the proprietors of these shops and local vendors, instructing them to vacate their shops from the station premises and the surrounding lands in the Sealdah South Section of Eastern Railway. However, due to their noncompliance, a bulldozer was deployed on Saturday night to demolish these shops.
A large number of police, Railway Protection Force (RPF) and Rapid Action Force (RAF) were deployed for this drive.
After the change of government in the state, the Railways have been conducting drives to evict encroachments in the station areas. Similar drives were held at several stations, including Howrah, Sealdah, Dum Dum, Jadavpur and Habra. This time, the drive was also launched at Park Circus station in Kolkata.
Late Saturday night, the Park Circus station premises were surrounded by railway police and the RAF. Security was tightened to prevent any unrest. First, the Railways used loudspeakers to announce instructions to vacate the station area and railway land. Some time was given to the traders to remove their belongings. However, none of the traders in the station area moved their goods. After that, a bulldozer was brought in, and the illegal shops were demolished one by one.
The Park Circus station area has always been congested. It is alleged that a large number of illegal shops had mushroomed at the station premises over the years. The Railways have never been able to evict illegal hawkers at that station, which is located in a minority community-dominated area. There were allegations that railway passengers used to face harassment and crimes at various times while travelling to that station.
After the BJP government came to power in the state, it was decided that illegal hawkers would be evicted from the station premises. The eviction drive lasted for about two and a half hours.
Meanwhile, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has also taken steps to remove illegal encroachments and shops under several flyovers across the city.
It was learnt that the KMC has issued notices to illegal hawkers to remove their shops from under the Sealdah flyover in North Kolkata and Sukanta Setu in the southern outskirts of the city. Those who have illegally encroached on spaces under these two bridges have been asked to move out within the next seven days. The KMC will take action in accordance with the provisions of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation Act, 1980, as mentioned in the notice.
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