On Sunday, the SIT recorded the statement of Aryan’s friend Arbaaz Merchant, who is also an accused in the case. Sources said that Aryan has been summoned by the SIT and asked to be present before it within the next couple of days.

The specially formed SIT has 15 members, and is headed by Deputy Director General Sanjay Kumar Singh. Apart from the Cordelia drug bust case, the SIT will be continuing the investigations in five other cases lodged by the Mumbai Zonal unit.

These six cases were transferred from NCB Mumbai Zonal Unit director Sameer Wankhede to the SIT on Friday. Wankhede has been at the centre of a storm ever since Aryan’s arrest on October 2, followed by questions on the credentials of witnesses in the case and allegations levelled against him by NCP leader and Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik.

In a related development, another SIT that was formed by Mumbai Police on October 28, to look into the allegations made against the NCB, summoned Shah Rukh Khan’s manager Pooja Dadlani on Monday in connection with extortion-related allegations. On Sunday, the SIT also recorded the statement of one Sunil Patil whose name cropped up in the extortion allegations.

Dadlani’s name came up in the affidavit of Prabhakar Sail, a witness in the Cordelia drugs bust case. Sail was the personal bodyguard of K P Gosavi, another witness in the case.

Sail has alleged that Gosavi and one Sam D’ Souza connived and extorted Rs 50 lakh from Dadlani for not arresting Aryan. Sail had further alleged that Gosavi was working at the behest of an NCB official to extort Rs 25 crore from Khan to let off Aryan in the case. D’Souza on the other hand, in his anticipatory bail plea, which got rejected by Bombay HC last week, alleged that Gosavi and Sail are frauds and main conspirators.

D’Souza alleged that the NCB official was innocent and that Gosavi misused his name. D’Souza had arranged a meeting between Dadlani and Gosavi in Lower Parel through a mutual friend. When D’Souza learnt that Gosavi is a fraud and extorted Rs 50 lakh from Dadlani, he ensured the money was returned to her. D’Souza said he had received a call from one Sunil Patil on October 1 and Patil asked him to connect Gosavi with NCB.