Raid on cruise ship attempt to divert attention from Mundra port seizure: Cong

The NCB on Saturday night carried out a raid at a Goa-bound cruise ship in Mumbai after drugs were recovered from there. Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan, along with seven other people, was detained by the bureau early on Sunday. Later in the day, the NCB arrested Aryan Khan

The Congress said on Sunday that the previous night’s raid conducted by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on a cruise ship in Mumbai and the ensuing action taken is an attempt to divert attention from the ‘real issue’ seizure of drugs at the Mundra port in Gujarat.

The NCB arrested Aryan Khan under Section 8C, 20B, 27 read with 35 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. (AFP)

The NCB on Saturday night carried out a raid at a Goa-bound cruise ship in Mumbai after drugs were recovered from there. Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan, along with seven other people, was detained by the bureau early on Sunday. Later in the day, the NCB arrested Aryan Khan under Section 8C, 20B, 27 read with 35 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Congress spokesperson Shama Moham said, “There is news that a Bollywood actor’s son has been arrested. Where did this drug come from? The NCB has come out and all of sudden saying that it has caught drugs from a cruise ship,” according to news agency PTI.

Pointing out that the real issue includes the Mundra port drug seizure, drug cartels in India and the drugs being smuggled from Afghanistan, Moham asked, “They (NCB) catch some people here and there so that the media will show that case, (that will) divert the attention. But I want you all to write about Mundra port, why is it not investigated? What is happening there? Why is it ignored?.”

Last month, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence had detained two containers that arrived from the Mundra Port from Kandahar, Afghanistan via Bandar Abbas, Iran for examination. Upon examination of the containers, the DRI seized a total of 2,988.21 kilograms of Afghan heroin. As per the agency’s estimate, the consignment was worth ₹21,000 crores.

Congress spokesperson Shama Moham also questioned the silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah on the seizure of drugs at the port, which is situated in their home state of Gujarat. Moham told reporters that Gujarat is becoming a hub of drug smuggling and expressed fears that privatisation of ports will lead to such activities.

The Maharashtra Congress, meanwhile, welcomed the NCB’s raid on the cruise ship in Mumbai but at the same time raised suspicion that whether the raid was done to suppress the drugs seizure at the Mundra Port.

“We welcome it. But at the same time, it has to be noted that there has been no action or discussion on the seizure of drugs worth ₹21,000 crore at the Mundra port in Gujarat. There is room for doubt if such raids are being conducted to shift focus from last month’s seizure,” Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe told PTI.

(With PTI inputs)