NEW DELHI, Oct 4: The Aryan Khan, the 23-year-old son of actor Shah Rukh Khan, and two others were sent to the Narcotics Control Bureau’s remand till October 7 by a Mumbai court on Monday. The court denied their petition opposing extension of NCB’s further custody. The three and five others were placed under by the NCB after a raid at a rave party on a cruise ship off the coast of Mumbai on Sunday after lengthy questioning.
The court accepted NCB’s plea that Khan and his friends’ further custody was needed after the seizure of drugs from the rave party. The NCB had presented WhatsApp chats, where discussions were held about cash transactions involving drugs.
Those sent to extended custody on Monday were Khan, his friend Arbaaz Merchant and fashion designer Munmun Dhamecha.
Khan and his friends were produced before a local court in Mumbai on Monday afternoon after having spent one day in NCB custody. They were earlier sent for a medical checkup at Mumbai’s JJ Hospital.
During the court hearing on Monday, Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh (representing the NCB) said WhatsApp chats found in Aryan’s phone, which was seized by the NCB, “clearly shows the nexus. It is necessary to confront all accused in the custodial remand,” Singh pointed out, adding that the chats have code words used for peddlers that needed to be decoded.
Aryan’s lawyer Satish Maneshinde opposed the NCB’s plea arguing that the NCB “cannot simply rely on WhatsApp chats” for the case and seek extension of the custody. “I was arrested by the NCB before and not on the cruise…I was invited as a guest…I don’t have any contacts with the organisers, dealers or any other people on the cruise. Nothing has been found in my bag during search,” Aryan informed the court via Maneshinde.
“They’ve interrogated me for the last 48 hours and have found nothing. I [have]…no criminal antecedents. I have cooperated with them (NCB) so any prayer for further custody should be rejected,” Aryan’s statement to the court added.
Before producing Khan and others in the court, NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede said the agency raided the Goa-bound cruise ship after disguising themselves as passengers, and busted the rave party where several drugs were being used. Officials of the agency learnt about the rave party after being tipped off about the same, and this was the first time they raided such a party on a cruise ship.
A company based in Delhi is believed to have organised the party. It was slated to reach Goa on Saturday night, and return to Mumbai by Monday.
Maneshinde, told the magistrate court on Sunday that his client was invited to the cruise party. He further stated that Aryan didn’t have a “boarding pass…any seat or cabins.” “Secondly, according to the seizure, nothing has been found in his possession. He is arrested only based on chats,” Maneshinde said.
Meanwhile, NCB chief SN Pradhan said the agency was probing the matter from “all angles” including if there was a Bollywood connection. “We are looking at the main supplier and the entire cartel behind this drugs case,” he said. Pradhan said the investigation of the matter would be carried out professionally despite it being high-profile.
(Manas Dasgupta)
