Aryan Khan 'implicated’, claims key witness in Mumbai cruise ship drugs case

A key witness who also accompanied the NCB led by Sameer Wankhede on the raid at a cruise ship in Mumbai last month, claimed BJP leader Manish Bhanushali discussed settling the case involving Aryan Khan for ₹18 crore.

A key witness in the Mumbai cruise ship drugs case, involving the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan, claimed on Sunday that the star kid was implicated.

Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan's son, Aryan Khan, was arrested in the aftermath of the Narcotics Control Bureau officials led by its zonal head Sameer Wankhede raiding a Goa-bound luxury cruise ship off the Mumbai coast to seize a cache of drugs on October 2. (File photo)

Pagare also alleged that he heard BJP worker Manish Bhanushali — another witness in the NCB's raid on the luxurious cruise ship off Mumbai coast — talk about a ₹18-crore-deal to “settle” the Aryan Khan's case.

Bhanushali was among the nine independent witnesses of the NCB, which also includes KP Gosavi, involved in the cruise ship raid which led to the arrest of Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan along with others for allegedly possessing drugs.

Speaking to news agency ANI, Pagare claimed that Sunil Patil, one of the founding members of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) who played a ‘key role’ in the Aryan Khan case, told Bhanushali last September about a “big game” that happened during a meeting at a hotel where he was also present.

“I had given money to Sunil Patil in 2018-19 for some work and for the past six months, I was following him to get that money back. This year in September, we were in a hotel room where Sunil Patil told Bhanushali that a big game has happened.” Vijay Pagare was quoted as telling ANI in an interview.

Elaborating further, Pagare claimed that Bhanushali met him on October 3 and asked him to accompany the BJP worker to get money. “While I was with him in the car, I heard them saying that a deal of ₹25 crore was scheduled but settled on ₹18 crore and ₹50 lakhs taken,” Pagare claimed in his interview.

“After this, we reached the NCB office where I saw the whole atmosphere. When I reached the hotel back, I saw the news on TV that Shah Rukh Khan's son has been caught. Then I understood that there is a big mess and Aryan Khan has been implicated,” Pagare claimed.

The cruise ship drugs raid case took a new turn on Saturday when BJP leader Mohit Bharatiya addressed a press conference and linked Maharashtra former home minister Anil Deshmukh with the case.

However, Maharashtra minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik said he will reply to these allegations what the BJP leader claimed as ‘revelations’ in his press meet scheduled on Sunday when Malik is supposed to expose some secrets hidden in a posh Mumbai hotel.

A team led by NCB's Mumbai zonal head Sameer Wankhede raided a Goa-bound luxury cruise ship off the Mumbai coast on October 2 and seized a cache of drugs. Following the raid, Aryan Khan was arrested on October 3, along with his friend Arbaaz Seth Merchant and model Munmum Dhamecha, and was sent to judicial custody on October 7.

After a high-profile legal battle fought by former Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi and celebrated lawyer Satish Maneshinde, Aryan Khan got bail in the case from Bombay high court on October 28.

Meanwhile, another key witness in the Mumbai cruise ship drugs raid case, Prabhakar Sail, gave a twist to the high-profile case by claiming that he heard private investigator KP Gosavi speak about a pay-off of ₹8 crore to Sameer Wankhede. The top NCB officer, however, denied the allegations and sought protection from any legal action.

Sail was hired as a personal bodyguard by private Gosavi, who also accompanied the NCB officials to the raid. Gosavi is currently in police custody in a separate case of cheating.

Wankhede’s position was further weakened by repeated allegations by Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik, who accused the officer of forging his caste certificate to land a government job. He was divested of the case by the NCB last week and a special investigation team took over the case.

The officer is currently facing an NCB vigilance inquiry headed by deputy director-general Gyaneshwar Singh, based on the allegations by Sail, Hindustan Times reported.