Unease when we heard Shahrukh Khan’s son Aryan was caught: a passenger’s account
"Only when people got to know that Aryan Khan was arrested was there a bit of panic among guests. Many said they wanted to deboard as they did not want to get caught in an unnecessary controversy."
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Actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan being escorted by NCB officials on Sunday. (Express Photo by Ganesh Shirsekar)It was meant to be a two-day cruise and we were expecting to be back in Mumbai on Monday. The idea was to enjoy the pool party and music concerts that the cruise ship had lined up.
As per the itinerary, the ship was to sail around 4 pm on Saturday. Most of the passengers had checked in by 2 pm.
We were told that the concert would begin as soon as the ship left the harbour at 4, but all of us were a bit perplexed when the ship did not leave the port on time or even hours after.
We were getting restless, and around 8 pm one of the ship crew came up and told some passengers that the NCB had conducted a raid and two people had been detained as drugs had been recovered from them.
By around 9 pm there was a buzz on the ship that the son of a well-known superstar had been caught with drugs. We still did not have an inkling as to who it was. We tried to search online for news reports and came to know that some people had been arrested from our ship.
But during the entire time there was also a semblance of normalcy, as if nothing had happened on the ship. The restaurants and food counters on the ship were open. People were dining, and there was music playing.
Only when people got to know that Aryan Khan was arrested was there a bit of panic among guests. Many said they wanted to deboard as they did not want to get caught in an unnecessary controversy.
Ship officials, however, assured people that there would be no problem and the ship would sail soon. When people insisted that they wanted to leave, they were told they could do so but would not be entitled to a refund as the cruise was not responsible for the conduct of the passengers who were arrested. Following this, many decided to stay back.
The ship finally sailed around 5 am on Sunday morning. The delay happened because there were many people who had not checked in and the ship left only when they boarded.
As told to Devendra Pandey.
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