Aryan Khan reaches home as fans with ‘stay strong’ poster gather around

Aryan Khan reached Mannat shortly after 11.30am following his 22-day stay at the Arthur Road jail in central Mumbai. The 23-year-old son of Shah Rukh Khan was arrested by the NCB.

Hundreds of fans, some with "welcome home" posters and banners, were seen outside Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's home in Mumbai on Saturday as his son Aryan Khan was released after spending almost a month in the Arthur Road jail in connection with the drugs-on-cruise case.

A fan stands with a poster of Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan and his son Aryan Khan outside his residence.   (AFP Photo)

"Welcome home Aryan Khan. Stay strong prince Aryan. Everything will be alright soon,” read a poster being held by several people outside Mannar, which was lit a day before.

Aryan Khan reached Mannat in suburban Bandra shortly after 11.30am following his 22-day stay in the Arthur Road jail in central Mumbai. The 23-year-old son of Shah Rukh Khan, arrested on October 3 by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), walked out of the prison at around 11am as fans and onlookers gathered outside amid heavy police deployment.

His father’s bodyguard got down from a white Range Rover car waiting outside the prison and stood near the facility’s gate half an hour before Aryan came out. He was seen speaking to the policemen posted there. The convoys of cars started moving slowly near the prison's gate at around 11 am and stopped to receive Aryan.

News agency PTI reported citing an official that the Range Rover was part of the convoy which left Mannat shortly after 8am and reached the prison around 9am, where it halted to avoid a traffic jam in the area.

Mumbai Police increased the presence of their personnel outside the prison as a precautionary measure to control the crowd, officials said. Besides local police, a State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) team was also present and barricades were put up outside the Arthur Road prison.

Prison officials collected Aryan Khan’s release order from the bail letterbox, which was opened at 5.30am on Saturday. Jail superintendent Nitin Waychal said earlier that Aryan Khan would be released between 10am to 12pm as other prisoners would also be released along with the 23-year-old. “The more release orders, the more time it takes to complete the formalities,” he said while speaking outside the prison entrance.

The father of Arbaz Merchant, who is a co-accused and was arrested along with Aryan and lodged at the same jail, said his son will be released in the evening.

Aryan Khan walked out of the Arthur Road jail a day after the Bombay high court granted him bail on Thursday and imposed 14 bail conditions stipulating their release on a personal bond of ₹1 lakh each with one or two sureties of the same amount.

Aryan Khan, Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha were arrested by the NCB on October 3 and booked under relevant sections of the NDPS Act for possession, consumption, sale/purchase of banned drugs and conspiracy and abetment.