Aryan Khan case witness Prabhakar Sail dies of heart attack
Prabhakar Sail, an independent witness in the Cordelia Cruises drugs bust case that saw the arrest of Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan, passed away. Sail reportedly died after suffering a heart attack in his rented apartment at Mumbai's Mahul on Friday afternoon. He was 36. His lawyer Tushar Khandare confirmed the news. Sail is survived by his mother, wife, and two children.
Foul play has been ruled out for now
Authorities have ruled out foul play in Sail's death as of now, said reports. His final rites are scheduled to take place on Saturday once his brothers arrive in Mumbai from their village. To recall, Sail was an independent witness of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in the highly publicized case. He had leveled extortion allegations against NCB Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede and others.
This is how Sail was connected to Cordelia Cruises case
In October 2021, the NCB raided a Goa-bound Cordelia Cruises ship and arrested many, including Aryan. Sail was the bodyguard of another NCB witness KP Gosavi, who went viral for taking pictures and videos of the star kid. Gosavi's controversial conduct was questioned by many—including Maharashtra cabinet minister Nawab Malik. Amid all this hubbub, Sail had brought a new sensational turn to the matter.
Sail brought up extortion angle in the case
In an affidavit, Sail had claimed he had overheard a conversation between Gosavi and one Sam D'Souza about an Rs. 18 crore deal regarding the release of Aryan. He also claimed Wankhede was to get around Rs. 8 crore from King Khan for the release of his son. Moreover, Sail had claimed Gosavi and D'Souza had a brief meeting with SRK's manager Pooja Dadlani.
Gosavi, accused in cheating case, was arrested last October
Meanwhile, in October, the Pune Police detained Gosavi for his connection with a 2018 cheating case. A lookout circular was issued against the self-declared private detective after his antics with Aryan brought him to the headlines. Accused in multiple cheating cases, Gosavi was evading arrest for years. Notably, in December, Mumbai Police said it found no evidence of extortion in the Cordelia Cruises case.
What's in store for Aryan for now?
While the extortion investigation was halted earlier, with Sail's sudden passing, one doesn't know how things will move ahead. Separately, an NCB Special Investigation Team (SIT) sought 90 more days from a Mumbai court to file their charge sheet in the drugs bust case recently.
