Famous B-Town Star Kid Arrested In A Surprise Drug Raid
- Entertainment
Nihal Rajapaksha- 0
- 18 minutes read
Drug cases and B-Town seems to have a very strong relationship with each other where most of the celebrities have had some relation with drugs. This time is no different. A famous B-Town star kid arrested recently. The accused have been identified as the elder son of Bollywood King Shah Rukh Khan. It was reported that on the 2nd of October, 2021 the NCB had conducted a surprise raid on a party that was being held on a cruise ship on the Mumbai coast. Initially, it was speculated that Aryan Khan had been detained and later it was confirmed by a senior official.
Earlier on the 3rd of October, 2021, the senior NCB official had mentioned that an investigation is on him. A source that is close to the investigation has stated that Aryan has been held for questioning but probably there is no involvement with the possession of drugs. At the same time, it is also being speculated that another famous B-Town star kid arrested in the same raid. However, there is still no information on this speculation.
On the night of 2nd October, a news agency had confirmed the news of the drug raid on Twitter with a post that read,
“Maharashtra: Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) detained at least 10 persons during a raid conducted at a party being held on a cruise in Mumbai. Details awaited, says the agency.”
#WATCH | Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) detained at least 10 persons during a raid conducted at a party being held on a cruise in Mumbai yesterday
— ANI (@ANI) October 2, 2021
(Visuals from outside NCB office) pic.twitter.com/yxe2zWfFmI
It was also revealed that NCB agency officials have gone through the cell phone of Aryan Khan to decipher any indication of his direct involvement in the possession and consumption of drugs. The investigating agency has also released a couple of names that are being probed. The most prominent ones in the list are Aryan Khan, Munmun Dhamecha, Arbaaz Merchant, Ismeet Singh, Nupur Sarika, Vikrant Chhoker, Mohak Jaswal and Gomit Chopra. The investigating agency has successfully recovered several drugs such as charas (21 gram), cocaine (13 gram), ecstasy/MDMA (22 pills), mephedrone (5 gram) respectively from the cruise party. They have also recovered 1.3 lakh cash.
Another famous news portal had stated that they had received a tip off of the cruise party on the Mumbai-Goa voyage. For avoiding detection, the NCB officials had registered themselves as ordinary passengers on the cruise and in the trip found some of the co-passengers consuming drugs. The sailor was ordered to return to Ballard Pier following which all the passengers were off-loaded along with their baggage and the passengers were let to spend the night at the NCB office. The NCB chief said that they have been planning for this surprise VVIP drug bust since past two weeks.
On the 3rd of October, NCB stated that they were about to start arresting the detained formally. This will even include Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan. NCB had already served the arrest memos to all the 8 people who were being invested in the VVIP drug bust.
“We are acting in an impartial manner. In the process, if some connections to Bollywood or rich people emerge, so be it. We have to act within the purview of the law. We have to keep on working in Mumbai. If you look at the data, there must have been more than 300 raids in the last one year. This will continue whether foreign nationals are involved, film industry or rich people are involved.”
As a famous b-town star kid arrested, Gauri Khan was seen and snapped while she was heading to the court in Mumbai for her son’s hearing.
DG Pradhan said,
“The probe is still underway and we are investigating all angles.”
Another famous Bollywood actor Suniel Shetty has commented on the NCB’s surprise raid on the alleged rave party. He said that when a raid is conducted, many people get arrested. We assume that a particular boy has consumed the drugs. The process is still on. Let’s give that child a breather. Let the real reports come out.
Following this and the detention of Aryan Khan and Arbaaz Seth Merchantt, the investigators reported that the duo are close friends. Several photos and videos of their friendship went viral. The detainees have been sent to JJ hospital for medical tests. On the same day, a drug peddler was brought for questioning to the NCB office in Mumbai. Sources stated that lawyer Satish Maneshinde had visited the NCB office in Mumbai. After the tests, Aryan Khan returned to the NCB office.
The sources close to the B-Town star kid arrested case stated,
“Aryan Khan will be charged for the consumption of illegal drugs only. The investigating officials will continue to probe other possible angles to the case, as well.”
After 25 minutes of the statement the sources said,
“Aryan Khan is charged under sections 8C, 20B, 27 and 35 of the NDPS act.”
After the incident, the cruise company has mentioned that they are not responsible for the incident and that they are in no case connected to it. They say,
“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.”
Soon after, Shah Rukh Khan’s bodyguard arrived at the court.
A reporter had stated,
“After, Aryan Khan, Arbaz Seth Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha's arrest, other five are likely to be arrested. The accused will now be taken to the court.”
However, the senior lawyer Majeed Memon voices a different opinion. He says,
“The accused is alleged to be a member in the rave party from where some contraband was found in violation to provisions of NDPS Act. It appears that the quantity allegedly attributed to him for personal consumption is small quantity and not commercial quantity and therefore the offense will be bailable.”
On the contrary, senior lawyer Rizwan Merchant said,
“Section 35 is presumption of culpable mental state and sec 27 is charge for consumption. But the charges are non-bailable because 20B is lesser than commercial quantity but larger than smaller quantity. Section 8(c) is charge for possession of cannabis, so it’ll be 8(c) read with 20(b), depending on what quantity was found on him. The sentence may be 10 years plus fine. But no minimum sentence provided.”
Aryan Khan has acknowledged his arrest memo. After this, he was taken to the court. Aryan Khan and the other detainees will remain in the NCB custody till 4th of October, 2021 in the drugs case.
“Anybody involved in such wrong acts should face severe punishment”
Sources stated,
“A magistrate grants Narcotics Control Bureau remand of Aryan Khan, two others till October 4. NCB counsel Advait Sethna argued for their custody for investigation; Khan’s counsel S Maneshinde said police remand for bailable offence would be unfair.”
NCB has issued a formal statement mentioning,
“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.”
Zonal Director of NCB, Sameer Wankhede stated,
“We have apprehended one peddler from the supply chain of this group of youngsters, who had made a booking together for the event. We are investigating his links with the accused. That's been a new detention from our department. We found some drugs in his possession, too.”
“Pertinent it is to note that prima face investigation conducted clearly reveals that there is incriminating material in form of WhatsApp chats etc clearly showing the nexus of these Respondents with suppliers and peddlers on a regular basis. Further, on basis of Intelligence information from the Accused the NCB is conducting another raid operation. In view thereof, it is imperative for thorough investigation that these persons are confronted with each other.”
“We Stand With Shah Rukh Khan” kept trending on Twitter. Pooja Bhatt takes to Twitter to support Shah Rukh Khan. While Salman Khan arrives at Mannat after Aryan was taken into custody.
I stand in solidarity with you @iamsrk Not that you need it. But I do. This too, shall pass. 🙏
— Pooja Bhatt (@PoojaB1972) October 3, 2021
The NCB has also decided not to seek further police custody of Aryan Khan. It is stated that he has been taken to the judicial custody where his lawyers apply for his bail.
Sameer Wankhede after b-town star kid arrested made a statement,
“Just because someone is famous, does that give them the right to violate the rules?”
Hansal Mehta has also supported SRK following his son’s arrest.
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.
— Hansal Mehta (@mehtahansal) October 4, 2021
A report on one of the media websites states that Aryan Khan cried during an interrogation and even revealed that he had been consuming drugs for four years.
The NCB sources additionally mentioned that the accused used to consume drugs when he was in Dubai, the UK and in the other countries.
"During the operation, the suspects were searched and different drugs were recovered from them, which they had hidden in their clothes, undergarments and purses (by women)," the NCB official said.
Nothing was found from Aryan Khan and hence he had been booked for consuming drugs only. While a small amount of the drugs have been found in the shoes of Merchantt. The police got alerted when there was a regular security check and Aryan felt nervous.
NCB Zonal said,
“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.”
The latest updates state that Aryan Khan and the other two will be in NCB custody till October 7 while NCB wants them to be interrogated till October 13. Khan’s lawyer states that he had been arrested based on WhatsApp chats where it showed connection with the dealers. The WhatsApp chats also showed discussions on the cash transactions of both national and international transactions. Code names were used by the accused in the WhatApp chats to communicate with the peddlers.
"I am not seeking bail as a matter of right. I was detained by NCB not on the cruise ship. I was special invitee. I landed there with another friend of mine," Khan's lawyer said on his behalf.
Following Salman Khan’s appearance in Mannat, his sister Alvira Khan also arrived at the residence. On the evening of 4th October, Aryan Khan was spotted at the court. He has been brought to the NCB office directly from the court and he will remain in custody till October 7.
Wankhede stated when asked about the custody,
“We asked for custody of Aryan Khan because there’s still a lot more left to investigate in the case. A lot of new arrests have happened, where we have caught drug peddlers who used to supply illegal substances to parties. During these arrests we’ve found links to the dark web and Bitcoin as well. We have recovered drugs in commercial quantities. The quantum of the case has become more serious, therefore we need to investigate further.”
When asked about evidence stating Aryan Khan to be directly involved in the case, Wankhede stated,
“I cannot make any claims prematurely. I need to first investigate and once we conclude our investigations, we’ll be able to address these matters. That’s precisely why we requested the honourable court for custody and the court granted us four days' custody.”
The co-accused – Arbaaz and Munmun will also remain in custody with Aryan till October 7 and the remaining 5 accused of the total eight will be presented before the court soon. The bail plea of Aryan Khan and others have been rejected.
The Narcotics Control Bureau has mentioned that an individual named Shreyas Nair from Goregaon has been arrested in the drug case where he had alleged links to Aryan Khan. Sashi Tharoor has lashed out at people for witch-hunting Shah Rukh Khan for his son’s arrest on Twitter.
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.
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) October 4, 2021
The accused Arbaaz Merchant has been taken for further NCB investigations in Mumbai.
Both Arbaaz Merchantt and Aryan Khan are being grilled by the NCB and are provided with the food from the mess. They conducted one-on-one sessions and then questioned them in pairs. According to the latest reports, the Bollywood star kid has not received any privilege for his meal consumption.
In several other reports, the aspiring Bollywood star kid has also been continuously cooperating with the cops and has been answering all the questions thrown at him. Reportedly, he has also furnished the investigation team with a “4 pages written statement.” The drug peddler duo who have been arrested are currently in NCB custody and were allegedly in direct contact with each other. They have even used code names on the WhatsApp chats.
The NCB has claimed before the city court that they have discovered “shocking and incriminating” materials in Aryan Khan’s WhatsApp chats and that of two other accused. The chats showed the connection of the accused with international drug trafficking.
However, Arbaaz Merchantt’s father straightaway denied it. He said,
“There is absolutely no WhatsApp chats related to drugs. They were not even prepared. It was just a last-minute discussion of going to the ship. They were invitees. They just decided out of the blue. He had breakfast with me and was supposed to have dinner with me."
The report alleged that the cops are trying to find out for how long Arbaaz and Aryan had been in touch with the drug peddlers. They are also trying to discover if there is any international drug peddling racket hideously involved in the case.
Meanwhile, the narcotics department is also continuing their raids in Navi Mumbai and Mumbai City and are likely to make a couple more arrests. NCB has arrested four more people associated with the event company making the number of arrests number to 12. They have been produced before law. Court orders them remand till 11 October, 2021. The co-founder of the event management company “Namascray” has been arrested. NCB has taken into custody one Anchit Kumar from the Powaii area. Sameer Wnakhede stated that now the total arrested is 16.
NCB has sent Aryan Khan’s cell phone to forensics for examination.
