The arrest of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan in the Mumbai cruise drug case has earned the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) both praise and criticism. Some Bollywood celebrities, political leaders and commentators have claimed that Aryan is being targetted unfairly because of his father, while others have implied a religious angle to the arrest.
The NCB has also received support from various quarters who argue the anti-narcotics agency is only doing its job without being partial to anyone.
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All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen(AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Sunday also reacted to the controversy, without taking any names. Owaisi said that he will speak up for the “voiceless Muslims” who are lodged in jails and not for those whose fathers are “powerful.” Following a rally in Ghaziabad, Owaisi was asked by the media about Aryan’s arrest. He said, “You are talking about a superstar’s son. At least 27 percent of undertrial prisoners in UP jails are Muslims. Who will speak for them? I will fight for those who are voiceless and weak, not for those whose fathers are powerful.”
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Aryan is currently lodged in Mumbai’s Arthur Road prison after he was arrested by the NCB following a drug bust on a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast on October 2.
A total of 20 people have been arrested in the case with the NCB claiming to have seized 13 grams of cocaine, five grams of MD (mephedrone), 21 grams of charas, 22 pills of MDMA during the raid.
The NCB has booked Aryan under various sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS).
On Thursday, a special court or NDPS Act cases reserved its order on Aryan’s bail plea until October 20. The NCB while opposing Aryan’s previous bail pleas has claimed he was involved in illegal procurement of drugs.
