Aslam Merchant, the father of Arbaaz Seth Merchant who has been arrested by NCB along with actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan, has finally broken his silence on the case and said that his son and Aryan are both “innocent.”

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An NCB team raided a Goa-bound cruise ship on Saturday evening and recovered different drugs like MDMA, ecstasy, cocaine, MD (mephedrone) and charas. Following the raid, eight people, including Arbaaz and Aryan, were detained. 

Arbaaz and Aryan were booked under sections 8C, 20, 27, and 35 of the NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) Act and  sent to Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) custody till October 7.

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In an interview with Times Now, Aslam Merchant said the allegations made against his son and Aryan are “baseless” and also said the agency has been “very nice to the kids.”

“It is all baseless allegations, but it is under investigation. It is very premature to state anything at this point in time. The NCB has been very cooperative and very nice to the kids. I being a lawyer, have faith in the judiciary. The truth will prevail and they will come out scott-free. They are innocent,” Aslam Merchant told Times Now.

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When asked about the illegal drugs allegedly found on his son, Aslam said, “Whatever was found, was found inside the ship, not outside. They didn’t even enter the ship. They were guests.”

The NCB has reportedly discovered ‘shocking and incriminating’ material in WhatsApp chats of Aryan and two others.  

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Speaking about the same, Aslam added, “There is absolutely no WhatsApp chats related to drugs. They were not even prepared. It was just a last-minute discussion of going to the ship. They were invitees. They just decided out of the blue. He had breakfast with me and was supposed to have dinner with me.”