Aryan Khan Sent To NCB Custody Till October 7 In Drugs Case

A Mumbai court on Monday (October 11) sent superstar Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan and two of his friends to Narcotics Control Bureau's (NCB) custody till October 7 in connection with the Cordelia Cruise drugs case. Khan along with his friend Arbaaz Merchant and another accused Munmun Dhamecha were among the eight people who were arrested by NCB following a raid on an alleged "rave party" onboard a cruise ship off the coast of Mumbai on Saturday.

Earlier today before the hearing, a report in ETimes had quoted NCB Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede as saying, "NCB will seek further custody of Aryan Khan. I cannot reveal the links and the findings of last evening's interrogation, but there are areas we need to investigate."

As per a report in Hindustan Times, during the court hearing on Monday, Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh who represented NCB at the hearing revealed that the WhatsApp chats found in Aryan's phone, which was seized by the NCB clearly shows the nexus adding that "It is necessary to confront all accused in the custodial remand." He said that the chats have code words that need to be decoded.

On the other hand, Aryan's lawyer Satish Maneshinde opposed the NCB's plea arguing that the agency "cannot simply rely on WhatsApp chats" for the case and seek extension of the custody. He further said that no substance was seized from his client which is in contravention of NDPS Act.

The NCB had previously issued an official statement that read, "In further development in Cr 94/21, the three accused namely Aryan Khan, Arbaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha were arrested today on 03-10-2021 u/s 8 (c) r/w section 20 (b), 27, 28 & 29 of NDPS Act and were produced before the honorable holiday court today after their medical. The honorable court granted 1 day NCB custody of the three accused. They will be produced again before the honorable court tomorrow for their judicial custody. Further, remaining 5 accused namely Nupur Satija, Ishmeet Singh Chadha, Mohak Jaiswal, Gomit Chopra and Vikrant Chhokar were arrested later today and will be produced before the honorable ACMM Court tomorrow after their medical."

A case was filed against Aryan Khan and others after agency investigators seized 13 gm of cocaine, 21gm of charas or hashish, 22 pills of MDMA (ecstasy), 5gm mephedrone and cash worth Rs 1.33 lakh at International Cruise Terminal, Green Gate Mumbai.

On the other hand, Satish Maneshinde, Aryan Khan's lawyer had told Additional CMM RK Rajebhosale in the holiday court on Saturday that his client was invited to the cruise party.

"However, he did not have a boarding pass. He didn't have any seats or cabins there. Secondly, according to the seizure, nothing has been found in his possession. He is arrested only based on chats," Maneshinde said at the court according to a report in Hindustan Times. He further said he will file Aryan's bail plea on Monday before the regular court.