Maharashtra / No evidence of extortion found in Aryan Khan case, probe halted: Police

Mumbai: The Mumbai Police on Wednesday said it has not found evidence of extortion in connection with the drugs-on-cruise case in which Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan was arrested, news agency ANI reported. "Investigation of alleged extortion matter in connection with drugs on cruise case halted until next order. Mumbai Police had constituted SET (Special Enquiry Team) to investigate and had questioned around 20 people. No case registered so far as no evidence found yet," Mumbai Police said, according to the report.

Mumbai Police formed a special team to probe the extortion angle after Narcotics Control Bureau's independent witness Prabhakar Sail alleged he had overheard a phone conversation about a demand of ₹25 crore from Shah Rukh Khan.

According to reports, SRK's manager Pooja Dadlani paid the amount but it was returned to her after Aryan Khan was arrested on October 3. The Police have also reportedly checked CCTV evidence which primarily suggested that SRK's manager Pooja Dadlani met KP Gosavi, Sam D'Souza to pay that amount. However, the investigation has not moved ahead much. A senior Mumbai police officer said the team is waiting for some documents and no inquiry report has been submitted yet.

The NCB also constitute a team to probe the extortion allegations against the agency. Meanwhile, Sameer Wankhede's term as the Mumbai zone chief of the Narcotics Control Bureau will come to an end on December 31 as the embattled NCB officer has not sought an extension of his term. The drugs case has been transferred to NCB SIT and Aryan Khan has been relieved from marking his regular attendance in the NCB Mumbai office every Friday in connection with the case.