Mumbai Police summon NCB witness, BJP worker Manish Bhanushali

Bhanushali was seen with Arbaaz Merchant, another arrested in the case who is accused of possession of drugs.

Mumbai Police on Thursday summoned BJP worker Manish Bhanushali who was a witness in the drugs in cruise ship case for questioning. Manish Bhanushali was among the nine independent witnesses of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), which also includes KP Gosavi, who were involved in the cruise ship raid which led to the arrest of Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan along with others.

BJP leader Manish Bhanushali (HT File)

While a photo of NCB’s ‘key witness’ Kiran Gosavi with Aryan Khan went viral, Bhanushali was seen with Arbaaz Merchant, another arrested in the case who is accused of possession of drugs.

Earlier this month, two complaints were filed against Bhanushali regarding his role in the raid. On October 13, a lawyer Kanishk Jayant alleged criminal conspiracy by Bhanushali and four others including Gosavi and requested Mumbai police commissioner Hemant Nagrale to file an FIR for extortion and their suspicious role in Cordelia Cruise Drug Case.

Bhanushali along with Gosavi were also among those who were present in the NCB office when Aryan Khan, Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha were taken to the NCB office. The FIR filed by advocate Jayant questioned how the NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede allowed Gosavi and Bhanushali to take physical custody of Aryan Khan, Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha.

Another lawyer Sudha Dwivedi on Tuesday approached MRA Marg Police Station for registration of an FIR against Bhanushali, NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede, Shah Rukh Khan's manager Pooja Dadlani and three witnesses in the drug case - Prabhakar Sail, Manish Bhanushali and Kiran Gosavi - over allegations of extortion. The MRA Marg Police Station however did not register the FIR. Dwivedi alleged that Bhanushali and others allegedly committed ‘extortion by threat of accusation of an offence’ in the case.

Bhanushali, earlier this month, accepted that he was escorting Arbaaz Merchant out of the International Cruise Terminal. He, however, denied dragging any of them. He also claimed that he was an informer in this case.

Kiran Gosavi, who is the key witness, according to the NCB, was arrested on Wednesday by the Pune Police. The Pune Police said that Gosavi was arrested for his alleged role in a 2018 cheating case. Pune Police commissioner Amitabh Gupta told HT that the Mumbai Police is yet to seek custody of Gosavi.