Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan is in the news for being involved in a drug case after the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) raided a cruise ship party off the Mumbai coast. Aryan Khan, along with Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha was arrested on October 3 and was sent to the NCB custody till October 4.
Aryan Khan’s advocate Satish Maneshinde argued that his client was invited to an event by the organisers and further said that he would file a bail application on Monday.
“Although the sections under which he (Aryan) has been booked are all bailable offences. I am willing to settle for a one-day NCB custody so that we can file for bail before the regular court.”
Details of the charges
Aryan Khan, Arbaaz Merchant, and Munmun Dhamecha were arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau under Sections 8(c), 20(b), 27, and 35 of NDPS Act.
According to the arrest memo accessed by The Quint, Aryan Khan has been accused of “involvement of consumption, sell and purchase of contraband punishable under NDPS Act, 1985, with other known and unknown persons for contravention…”
The NCB states in the memo that it has seized 13 gram cocaine, 5 gram MD, 21 gram charas, 22 pills of MDMA (ecstasy), and Rs 1.33 lakh in cash.
During the court hearing, the NCB stated that “WhatsApp chats have been recovered from the accused, which are currently under investigation.”
“Investigation into the WhatsApp chats have revealed that the contraband substances are linked to a drug racket. The chats recovered from the mobile point to conversations with drug peddlers. Even as the offences are bailable, there have been cases where custody is granted. Therefore we are asking for minimum of two days police custody till Tuesday, 5 October,” the NCB had told the court.
Satish Maneshinde, Aryan Khan’s lawyer, defended him saying he was an invitee.
“He didn’t have a ticket, nor did he book a cabin. He just boarded the cruise to give his friends company. The NCB recovered various chats and arrested him. Apart from that, nothing else was found on Aryan,” Maneshinde argued.
Speaking about the raid, NCB chief SN Pradhan told ANI, “It’s a result of a painstaking investigation that went on for two weeks. We acted on specific intelligence inputs and involvement of some Bollywood links has come to light.”
He insisted that they were working without bias.
“During investigation, if some connections to Bollywood or rich people emerge, so be it. We have to act within the purview of the law,” Pradhan told ANI.
“We have to keep on working in Mumbai. If you look at the data, there must have been more than 300 raids in the last one year. This will continue, whether foreign nationals, the film industry or rich people are involved,” SN Pradhan stated, adding, “We took action when inputs suggested that drugs like charas and MDMA were carried for consumption at the party,” he added.
