Shahrukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan being escorted by officials on Sunday (Express photo by Ganesh Shirsekar)Mumbai NCB Raid highlights: All the accused, including Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan, who had been arrested after they were questioned in the wake of Saturday night’s raid on a cruise ship off Mumbai coast, were sent to further NCB custody till October 7.
The accused were produced in court on Monday. NCB had sought custody for Aryan till October 11. NCB had said that ‘shocking, incriminating material’ was found on Aryan’s phone.
Lawyer Satish Maneshinde, appearing for Aryan, had earlier said that no substance seized from his client was in contravention of the NDPS Act. “If any substance is seized from any other person (co-accused), that doesn’t make any ground to take my client into custody,” he said.
The NCB had earlier said that there was material in the form of WhatsApp chats against the three, allegedly ‘showing nexus with peddlers and suppliers on regular basis’. The three are booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act related to charges of possession, consumption and sale of illegal substances.
Apart from Aryan Khan, seven others — Arbaaz Merchant, Munmun Dhamecha, Nupur Sarika, Ismeet Singh, Mohak Jaswal, Vikrant Chhoker and Gomit Chopra — had been arrested following the raid on Saturday.
Aryan Khan is being questioned by the NCB.
Accused Arbaaz Merchant being taken for further investigation by Narcotics Control Bureau in Mumbai. He is in NCB custody till October 7.
The Narcotics Control Bureau detained eight people after searching a cruise ship on its return to Mumbai on Monday, two days after a drugs party onboard the vessel was busted off the city coast, an NCB official said.
The NCB also found some documents and some material, suspected to be drugs, after an over six-hour-long search onboard the ship, the official said, without divulging any further details.
The anti-drugs agency had on Saturday evening busted a drugs party on board the ship, of the Cordelia Cruises company, and arrested Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan and seven others, including two women.
On Monday, the NCB got information that the ship returned to the city after two days. Hence, NCB officials including its zonal director Sameer Wankhede reached the cruise terminal and conducted searches onboard the vessel, the official said.
The sleuths subsequently detained eight people and the latter were seen with travelling bags in their hands while they were being brought from the ship to the NCB's office. After conducting searches on Monday, the NCB is likely to record the statement of the cruise ship manager and owner, the official said. (PTI)
The court, in its order, while extending custody of the accused, noted that the investigation in the case was of prime importance and considering this aspect, the further presence of the accused before the NCB was necessary.
“The fact is that the co-accused in the case were found in possession of intermediate drugs and these three accused (Aryan Khan, Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha) were accompanying them. Investigation is of prime importance and presence of the accused is needed for detailed investigation. It is useful for both the prosecution and the accused to prove their innocence,” the court said.
The magistrate had sought to know from the NCB how much drug seizure was made from each of the accused. To this, Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, appearing for the NCB, said six grams of charas was seized from Merchant, while five grams of the cannabis was recovered from Dhamecha. All these are considered as 'small quantity' under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS).
“From the other accused, we recovered five grams of MDMA (a stimulant drug). Ten grams of cocaine were recovered from from Vikrant Chhokar, 14 MDMA pills from Ishmeet Singh, four pills of MDMA and 3 grams of cocaine from Gomit Chopra and four MDMA pills from Nupur Satija. No recovery was made from Mohak Jaiswal, but he had provided the MDMA pills to Nupur Satija,” Singh told the court. (PTI)
Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Monday said he is repelled by the "ghoulish epicaricacy" of those "witch-hunting" actor Shah Rukh Khan over his son's arrest and urged people to have empathy in the matter.
Tharoor said, "I am no fan of recreational drugs & haven't ever tried any, but I am repelled by the ghoulish epicaricacy displayed by those now witch-hunting @iamsrk on his son's arrest."
"Have some empathy, folks. The public glare is bad enough; no need to gleefully rub a 23yr old's face in it," the Lok Sabha MP said. (PTI)
Aryan Khan and seven others have been sent to further NCB custody till October 7.
Apart from Aryan Khan, seven others — Arbaaz Merchant, Munmun Dhamecha, Nupur Sarika, Ismeet Singh, Mohak Jaswal, Vikrant Chhoker and Gomit Chopra — had been arrested following the raid on Saturday. All eight will now be in NCB custody till October 7.
NCB makes ninth arrest in connection with the drugs seized from the cruise off the Mumbai coast. It says the arrested person, held in Juhu, is a supplier and drugs of commercial quantity have been seized from him.
ASG says accused Aryan Khan had gone to the ship on invitation; he was present there among people who've been apprehended with drugs. “There are chats between you and others about drugs. So, there must be a thorough investigation of all these things,” he says. (ANI)
Lawyer Satish Maneshinde appearing for Aryan Khan says no substance seized from his client is in contravention of the NDPS Act. “If any substance is seized from any other person (co-accused), that doesn't make any ground to take my client into custody,” he says. (ANI)
NCB has sought custody for Aryan Khan till October 11. It said 'shocking incriminating material' was found on his phone.
ASG Anil Singh appearing for NCB before a Mumbai Court says accused Aryan Khan, Arbaz Seth Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha were booked under sections 8C, 20, 27 and 35 of the NDPS Act. Five more have been arrested and are under investigation, he submits before court. NCB seeks 9 days of custody for the accused. (ANI)
All accused arrested following the NCB raid on a cruise ship off Mumbai coast brought to a city court.
Bollywood personalities like filmmaker Hansal Mehta, and actors Pooja Bhatt and Suchitra Krishnamoorthi have expressed their solidarity with Shah Rukh Khan after the superstar's son Aryan Khan was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in connection with a drugs case.
Mehta took to Twitter and wrote that it was "painful" when people arrive at judgements on children, adding he stands with Shah Rukh during the difficult time.
"It is painful for a parent having to deal with a child getting into trouble. It gets compounded when people begin to arrive at judgements before the law takes its course. It is disrespectful and unfair to the parent and to the parent-child relationship. With you @iamsrk," the "Scam 1992" helmer wrote.
Bhatt, who worked with Shah Rukh in the 1996 film "Chaahat", took to Twitter late Sunday evening and wrote, “I stand in solidarity with you @iamsrk Not that you need it. But I do. This too, shall pass.”
Hours before Aryan's arrest, Shah Rukh's "Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa" co-star Suchitra Krishnamoorthi tweeted that she is praying for the family. "Nothing harder for a parent than seeing their child in distress. Prayers to all," she wrote.
In a subsequent tweet, Krishnamoorthi noted how the Hindi film industry ends up becoming an unfortunate soft target. "For all those targetting #Bollywood remember all the #NCB raids on film stars? Yes nothing was found and nothing was proved. #Bollywood gawking is a tamasha. It's the price of fame (sic)," she added. (PTI)
Since the charges are bailable, Khan’s lawyers are likely to file bail on Monday. On Sunday, his lawyers argued that there was no bar under section 37 NDPS Act. This relates to a particular provision under the Act, where if the offences are non-bailable, the court is required to hear the public prosecutor and be satisfied that there are “reasonable grounds” that the accused has not committed the offences before granting bail. Since the charges do not fall under this category, the court will decide on his bail plea on the basis of the provisions under the bailable sections.
A passenger on the cruise recounts the time during the NCB raid.
"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. 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."
The NCB while seeking Khan’s remand did not specify whether any drugs were found in his possession or were suspected to have been consumed by him though he has been charged with sections related to consumption. The central agency said that it was investigating “suspicious transactions” constituting offences under the NDPS Act. Its prosecutor also told the court that there is prima facie material in the form of WhatsApp chats showing nexus of respondents (the three arrested on Sunday) “with peddlers and suppliers on a regular basis”.
Khan’s lawyer told the court that nothing had been found in his possession nor had he admitted to any consumption or being in contact with persons related to the drugs seizure.
As per NCB, they have found cocaine, mephedrone, MDMA and ecstasy from the cruise ship. They are yet to determine the quantity of the drugs seized, which will determine the sections that could be invoked in the case.
During the questioning of some drug peddlers, NCB officials said, they came to know that some people taking the cruise to Goa will be carrying drugs with them.
Based on this tip, around 20 NCB officials booked tickets and boarded the cruise, Ship Cordelia, disguised as passengers. They waited till the time those on board allegedly started using narcotics and caught them red-handed. The captain of the ship was then asked to take the cruise back to the international cruise terminal at Ballard Pier in south Mumbai. Those held were taken to the NCB office nearby.
The NCB has invoked four sections of the NDPS Act so far. These include section 8(c) of the Act. The section has wide provisions for producing, manufacturing, possessing, selling, purchasing, transporting, using, consuming, importing, exporting any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance. This section is read with three others.
Section 20 (b) relates to use of cannabis, Section 27 relates to consumption of any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance and Section 35 which is a presumption of culpable mental state.
Hansal Mehta took to Twitter and wrote: “It is painful for a parent having to deal with a child getting into trouble. It gets compounded when people begin to arrive at judgements before the law takes its course. It is disrespectful and unfair to the parent and to the parent-child relationship. With you @iamsrk.”
Earlier, Pooja Bhatt, Suchitra Krishnamoorthy and Suniel Shetty had spoken up about the arrest and its aftermath.
Bollywood superstar Salman Khan visited his close friend Shah Rukh Khan’s residence Mannat late Sunday night after Shah Rukh’s son Aryan Khan was arrested and sent to a one day custody of Narcotics Control Bureau. Khan was photographed in an all black attire and was seen gesturing at the paparazzi in the images.
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), which has invoked bailable charges against Aryan and two others, said that there was material in the form of WhatsApp chats against the three, allegedly ‘showing nexus with peddlers and suppliers on regular basis’.
The NCB is looking at a 'Bollywood connection' and a larger nexus of narcotics after nabbing eight youngsters, including Aryan Khan, the son of actor Shah Rukh Khan, from a cruise ship in Mumbai on charges of drugs usage and trafficking, agency chief S N Pradhan said on Sunday.
He said the anti-narcotics agency has widened its probe and summoned the organisers and event managers of the night party, which was supposed to be held onboard the cruise ship, the management executives of the ship and the owners for questioning in the case and to find out their involvement in it.
"There is a Bollywood connection and we are investigating all angles of the case. We are looking at the main supplier and the entire cartel behind this drugs case," Pradhan told PTI. He said the agency will "carry out its probe in a professional manner".
Pradhan said the agency made "painstaking" efforts and had been working on the leads in this case for some time after which a team of 22 NCB officials "posing as passengers" boarded the Cordelia cruise ship and launched the raids, searching for the contraband and carriers. (PTI)
The NCB on Sunday said it had evidence to show the existence of a nexus between three persons it had arrested, including Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan, and suppliers and peddlers of drugs, in connection with the seizure of banned drugs onboard a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast.
While seeking the custody of Aryan Khan, Dhamecha and Merchant, the NCB said there was evidence to show a nexus between the arrested persons and suppliers and peddlers of drugs and banned narcotic substances regularly.
“Prima facie investigation conducted by the NCB reveals that there is incriminating material in the form of WhatsApp chats and so on that clearly shows the nexus with the arrested accused (Aryan Khan and two others) with suppliers and peddlers on a regular basis,” the NCB said in its remand note.
NCB's advocate Advait Sethna sought custody of the accused for two days on the ground that the investigation is at a nascent stage and more raids are being carried out to apprehend the supplier of drugs.
“The NCB has apprehended one more person in the supply chain. Thus, NCB custody of these accused is imperative for proper investigation to unearth their links and nexus,” the remand note said adding the arrested accused need to be confronted with each other so as to establish the link. (PTI)
Apart from Aryan Khan, Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha, five others — Nupur Sarika, Ismeet Singh, Mohak Jaswal, Vikrant Chhoker and Gomit Chopra — have also been arrested now. They will be produced in court on Monday. With this, all eight people, who had been detained following the raid, have been arrested now.
“We are cooperating with the authorities which is our standard procedure. We were only operating the ship, we don't know anything else. We aren't the organisers,” says Jurgen Bailom, Cordelia Cruises owner, after being questioned by the NCB in connection with raid on the cruise off the Mumbai coast. (ANI)
Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan, Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha, who were arrested after they were questioned in the wake of Saturday night’s raid on a cruise ship off Mumbai coast, were remanded in NCB custody till Monday.
Lawyer Satish Maneshinde argues that Aryan Khan did not possess any contraband. He adds that the NCB itself has said that the offences are bailable, which is why he is entitled to get bail. Maneshinde pleads for Aryan’s bail.
NCB seeks custody of the arrested trio till October 5.
Aryan Khan and two others brought to court by NCB officials. Additional chief metropolitan magistrate RK Rajebhosale to hear the plea for remand. NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede is also present in court.
A police team is now taking the accused, including Aryan Khan, to the Esplanade Court near Azad Maidan. They have left the NCB office now.
Against the backdrop of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) detaining Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan and others after busting a drugs party onboard a cruise ship near Mumbai, Union minister Ramdas Athawale on Sunday said anybody involved in such wrong acts should face severe punishment.
Speaking to reporters at Ulhasnagar in the Thane district, Athawale said he would request Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to ensure that the state and Mumbai are rid of drugs.
“After the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput, the cases of drugs in the film industry have come to light. The film industry is plagued with (the misuse of) drugs. We want Maharashtra and Mumbai to be free of drugs. We will raise this demand with the CM," he said.
Athawale also took potshots at Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, saying its constituents are involved in "infighting" instead of addressing the issue of pothole-ridden roads. (PTI)
Aryan Khan was arrested under sections 8C (for producing, manufacturing, possessing, selling, purchasing, transporting, warehousing, using, consuming, importing or exporting inter-state, importing into or exporting from India or transshipping any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance), 20B (for producing, manufacturing, possessing, selling, purchasing, transporting, importing or exporting inside the state, or using cannabis), 27 ( punishment for consumption of any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance) and 35 (presumption of culpable mental state) of the NDPS Act.
Three persons, including Aryan Khan and Arbaz Merchant, arrested by NCB.
Three of the eight persons, held in connection with the raid at a party at a cruise off the Mumbai coast, being taken for the medical test by NCB.
Based on a tip-off, around 20 NCB officials booked tickets and boarded the cruise, Ship Cordelia, disguised as passengers. They waited till the time those on board allegedly started using narcotics and caught them red-handed. The captain of the ship was then asked to take the cruise back to the international cruise terminal at Ballard Pier in south Mumbai. Those held were taken to the NCB office nearby. But how did drugs end up on the cruise ship? Read our explainer here.
An official said that those booked are likely to be produced before the chief metropolitan magistrate on Sunday evening.
Some accused have been taken out from the NCB office in a car. While NCB is not providing details on where they are being taken, as per law, the accused are subjected to a medical test before being produced before a court.
“Cordelia Cruises is in no way, directly or indirectly, connected to this incident. Cordelia Cruises had chartered its ship for a private event to a Delhi-based event management company. We are extending our full support and cooperating with the authorities,” says Cordelia Cruises.
The NCB officials claimed that a few days ago, they had received information about the rave party that was being organized in the passenger cruise ship which was to leave for Goa on Saturday evening. The NCB personnel accordingly booked tickets and boarded the cruise ship disguised as passengers.
“As soon as the cruise left Mumbai coast and reached mid-sea, few passengers started consuming drugs after which the NCB officials then started their operation and caught them red-handed,” said a source. Read more
“We were gathering inputs and took action when inputs suggested that drugs like charas and MDM were carried for consumption at the party,” says NCB chief SN Pradhan on the seizure of drugs from the cruise off the Mumbai coast. (ANI)
After the Narcotics Control Bureau busted an alleged rave party and seized several drugs and detained several people, one of whom was Shah Rukh Khan’s son, Aryan Khan, actor Suniel Shetty has spoken up on the subject and asked for fans, media to ‘let the boy breathe’.
Suniel Shetty told ANI, “The fact is, whenever there’s a raid, many people are taken. We assume that this child has consumed something, or this child has done that. The investigation is underway. Let’s give that child a breather. Whenever something like this from our industry happens, the media cracks down on it and we make assumptions, give the child an opportunity, let the real reports come out, till then, he’s a child, taking care of him is our responsibility.” Read more
The Congress on Sunday alleged that the raid conducted by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on a cruise ship in Mumbai and subsequent action against some persons was an attempt to deflect attention from the "real issue" of the drugs seizure at Mundra port in Gujarat.
The party also demanded a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the drugs haul at the port. Last month, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) had seized 2,988.21 kg heroin, likely worth Rs 21,000 crore in the global market, from two containers at the Adani-operated Mundra port in Gujarat's Kutch district.
On Sunday, the NCB detained Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan and seven others after raiding a Goa-bound cruise ship in Mumbai and recovering drugs from them.
"There is a news that a Bollywood actor's son has been arrested. Where did this drug come from? The NCB has come out and all of sudden saying that it has caught drugs from a cruise ship," Congress' spokesperson Shama Mohamed told reporters. (PTI)
An officer said the statements of those detained are being recorded under section 67 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, following which the future course of action will be decided. An NCB official confirmed that Aryan Khan is being questioned, but he has not been charged. Read more