Allegations of bribery have been made against Kiran Gosavi (File)
In a second sensational twist to the drugs-on-cruise-ship case in as many days, Kiran Gosavi -- the private investigator whose photos and videos with Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan threw up multiple questions -- has told NDTV that he will surrender shortly in Lucknow. "I will surrender in Lucknow within half-an-hour," said the man who has been missing since the raids and against whom a lookout notice has been posted.
Asked why he was surrendering in Lucknow when the case has been filed in Mumbai and Maharashtra police are looking for him, KP Gosavi told NDTV that he feels "threatened" in the city.
Asked about the claims of pay-offs, Mr Gosavi told NDTV that he has no knowledge of this. "I'm hearing this for the first time," he said, further claiming that he had not met NCB officer Sameer Wankhede before October 2.
The Lucknow police commissioner, however, has told NDTV that Kiran Gosavi cannot surrender in the Uttar Pradesh capital, "because the Lucknow police station does not have the jurisdiction to take any action against him".
A private investigator, KP Gosavi was present during the cruise ship raid and later at the NCB office with Aryan Khan. His selfie and videos with Aryan Khan at both places have fueled questions from Maharashtra's ruling alliance about the anti-drugs agency's investigation.
Several leaders have questioned why a person whom the Narcotics Control Bureau has named as an "independent witness", should be present at the raid and the agency's office and take selfies with one of the high-profile accused. There have been allegations that the investigation is for show and that the agency is acting at the behest of the BJP to malign the state government.
Yesterday, allegations of bribery have been made against Gosavi by a man claiming to be his personal bodyguard. Prabhakar Sail, who is also among the agency's witnesses, said he was present in a car when Gosavi was having a telephonic conversation about pay-offs with one Sam D'Souza.
Prabhakar Sail claimed he heard KP Gosavi say they should ask for a "bomb 25 crore" and then settle at 18 crore, of which Rs 8 crore is for the NCB's zonal officer in charge of the investigation, Sameer Wankhede. Minutes later, KP Gosavi and Sam D'Souza had a meeting with Pooja Dadlani, Shah Rukh Khan's manager.
Today, the anti-drugs agency named Prabhakar Sail as a "hostile witness", filing an affidavit in court.
Mr Wankhede also filed an affidavit in personal capacity, saying he has been "personally targeted, especially by a known political figure, (since) one Sameer Khan, a relative of this honcho, was arrested in a drug case". He did not name Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik, who made several allegations against him and this morning followed it up by tweeting a document related to the NCB officer's. "Forgery began here," he captioned the document.
"The publishing of my personal documents is defamatory in nature and an unnecessary invasion of my family privacy. It is intended to malign me, my family, my father, and my late mother," Mr Wankhede said, adding that the minister's actions had put his family under "tremendous mental and emotional pressure" and that he himself had been left "pained by the slanderous attacks".