Private investigator Kiran Gosavi, an independent witness in the Mumbai cruise ship drugs case, has been arrested in connection with a cheating case filed in 2018, Pune Police Commissioner Amitabh Gupta said on Thursday, PTI reported. A court in Pune sent Gosavi to police custody for eight days, according to ANI.
Gosavi took a selfie with actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan inside the Narcotics Control Bureau’s office. The selfie taken soon after Aryan Khan’s arrest during the cruise ship raid had fueled questions about the anti-drug agency’s investigation in the case.
On Sunday, Prabhakar Sail, another witness in the case, had claimed that Gosavi had gone missing. He had also accused Gosavi of being linked to a Rs 18 crore deal, involving NCB officer Sameer Wankhede.
However, Gosavi’s arrest on Thursday was in relation to a first information report filed in Maharashtra’s Palghar district on October 17. The FIR was based on a complaint filed by two people named Utkarsh Tare and Adarsh Keni in 2018.
The police have accused Gosavi of duping Tare and Keni of Rs 1.65 lakh on the pretext of finding jobs for them in Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur. Gosavi allegedly gave fake tourist visas and flight tickets to Tare and Keni, according to the complaint.
On Thursday, Gupta said that the chargesheet in the case was filed in 2019. Gosavi will be produced before a court later in the day, he said.
“If we get more complaints against him [Gosavi], we will register fresh offence against him,” the Pune Police chief added, according to ANI.
The FIR in the cheating case was filed nearly two weeks after Nationalist Congress Party spokesperson Nawab Malik alleged that Gosavi and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Manish Bhanushali took part in the Narcotics Control Bureau’s raid on the cruise ship during Aryan Khan was arrested.
Malik had questioned whether the agency had the authority to allow private citizens to take part in such raids. The Narcotics Control Bureau, however, clarified that Gosavi and Bhanushali were independent witnesses in the case.
Meanwhile Sail, who identified himself as a bodyguard of Gosavi, filed an affidavit on Sunday claiming that after Aryan Khan’s arrest, he had overheard Gosavi talk about a Rs 18 crore deal, of which Rs 8 crore was to be paid to Narcotics Control Bureau Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede.
The Narcotics Control Bureau is conducting a vigilance inquiry into Wankhede on the matter. On Wednesday, the anti-drug agency had issued summons to Gosavi and Sail for questioning.
Before being detained on Thursday, Gosavi refuted the allegations levelled by Sail. He demanded his call detail records and text chats as well as that of Sail and his brother be released to throw light on the allegations.
“At least one minister or any leader of the Opposition from Maharashtra must stand with me,” he said. “At least they should request the Mumbai police what I am demanding [to release the call detail records of Sail]. Once his reports come out everything will clear.”
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