Aryan Khan drugs case: Shah Rukh Khan 'begged' ex-NCB officer to spare son in released chats

Former anti-drugs officer Sameer Wankhede, who arrested Aryan Khan in 2021, presented chats with Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan as part of his defence in court.

The former zonal director of the Narcotics Control Bureau has been accused of demanding a bribe of Rs250 million from the actor by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

In the alleged screenshots of the chats, Shah Rukh Khan has said that he begs him to let his son go as it "will break his spirit".

As per Indian media reports, Shah Rukh sent long-winding messages to Wankhede urging him to free his son. Among them was the message that has been attached below:

“I beg you man please don't let him be in that jail. These holidays will come and he will break as a human being. His spirit will be destroyed because of some vested people. You promised you will reform my child not put him in a place where he may come out completely battered and broken."

A lot of the messages were signed off with, "Love srk". The alleged messages include references to other people who have "vested interests". Shah Rukh was also seen requesting Wankhede multiple times to let his son go, promising him that he will speak to people creating hindrances, and do "everything in [his] power" to retract their statement.

In one screenshot, he is seen pleading to Wankhede, saying, "I promise you I will do all of it and won't shirk away from begging them to stop. But please send my son home. You also know in your heart it's been a bit too harsh for him by now. Please please I beg you as a father."

Several Indian media outlets have sourced these screenshots from the court, however, they have not been corroborated and there has been no statement from Shah Rukh Khan or his legal team.

Foreign visits undertaken by former NCB officer Sameer Wankhede, booked by the CBI over an alleged Rs250-million bribe demand from superstar Shah Rukh Khan's family to spare his son in a drugs case, have been under the scanner of the agency.

A Narcotics Control Bureau's Special Enquiry Team (SET) had red-flagged alleged improper explanations and apparent misdeclaration of "the expenditure" given by then NCB Zonal Director Wankhede on his foreign visits.

These findings were referred by the centre to the CBI, which had registered an FIR against the officer and four others on May 11.

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