Cruise rave party: Acting impartially on raids, detentions, says NCB chief

Eight persons, including Aryan Khan, actor Arbaaz Merchant, Munmun Dhamecha and Nupur Sarika, are being questioned by the NCB over the drugs party on the cruise off Mumbai’s coast.

The raid on a rave party on a cruise ship that was on its way to Goa from Mumbai was the result of a painstaking investigation that went on for two weeks, said Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) chief SN Pradhan.

A Narcotics Control Bureau officer claimed this was the agency’s first ever raid on a rave party on a cruise ship (AFP Photo/Representative)

Speaking about the detention of people from the glamour world, including superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan, Pradhan said the investigation had revealed Bollywood links.

“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,” the NCB chief was further quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

He further said work in Mumbai would continue irrespective of the involvement of foreign nationals or people from the film industry. “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,” he added.

At present, eight persons, including Khan, actor Arbaaz Merchant, Munmun Dhamecha, Nupur Sarika, Ismeet Singh, Mohak Jaswal, Vikrant Chhoker and Gomit Chopra, are being questioned by the NCB over the drugs party on the cruise off Mumbai’s coast, said, the bureau’s Mumbai director Sameer Wankhede.

An official said a total of 13 people, including three women, were taken into custody. He said different drugs like MDMA, ecstasy, cocaine, MD (mephedrone) and charas were recovered from the detainees during the raid conducted on Saturday evening, adding an FIR has been registered in the case.

Pradhan said further raids would be conducted based on information received from the detainees.

The NCB has summoned the organisers of the rave party and asked them to appear before the agency during the day.

Based on a tip-off, the NCB team, led by Wankhede, had raided the Goa-bound Cordelia cruise ship on Saturday evening and recovered drugs from some of the passengers, the official said.

"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 detained persons will be produced in a court later in the day after the legal formalities get over, the NCB official said.