Agencies
Mumbai, May 27:
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), on May 27, submitted a charge-sheet in the 2021 drugs-on-cruise case involving Aryan Khan, the son of actor Shah Rukh Khan. In the charge-sheet, NCB has given clean chit to Aryan Khan.
All the accused persons, except Aryan Khan and Mohak Jaswal, were found in possession of Narcotics reads the statement of Sanjay Kumar Singh, DDG (Operations) – NCB.
A complaint against 14 persons under various sections of the NDPS Act is being filed. Complaint against rest six people is not being filed due to a lack of evidence, the statement says.
On the Cordelia Cruises’ Empress ship in October 2021, NCB detained Bollywood celebrity Shah Rukh Khan’s eldest son Aryan Khan in the high-profile Mumbai drug bust case. Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha, Aryan’s friends, were also detained. Aryan Khan was arrested under the NDPS Act’s Sections 8C, 20B, 27 and 35.
Later, it was revealed that Aryan, along with seven other people, had been detained for questioning. Arbaaz Merchant, Munmun Dhamecha, Nupur Sarika, Ismeet Singh, Mohak Jaswal, Vikrant Chhoker and Gomit Chopra were also questioned.
The Congress party alleged that the raid conducted by the 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.
Around September 15, 2021, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) intercepted 2,988.21 kg of Afghan heroin, worth ₹21,000 crore, from two containers at the Mundra port. The port is operated by Adani Ports and SEZ (APSEZ), a subsidiary of Gautam Adani’s conglomerate.
Adani Group later said in a statement, “No port operator across the country can examine a container. Their role is limited to running the port.”
Mohit Kamboj, a BJP Mumbai leader, later claimed that some Maharashtra politicians were attempting to extort money from Shah Rukh Khan. Sunil Patil, an Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader close to former state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, was said to be the brains behind the “plot” in the case, according to Kamboj.
