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NCB says Gosavi, Bhanushali were independent witnesses in Aryan Khan case; not known to agency
The photo of KP Gosavi with Aryan Khan after Aryan's arrest triggered questions about NCB's functioning with Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik alleging that NCB involved outsiders during the operation.
The Narcotics Control Bureau on Saturday issued a statement clarifying the association of Manish Bhanushali and KP Gosavi in the Aryan Khan case and said the agency did not violate any norm. The presence of independent witnesses is a must during raids and KP Gosavi and Manish Bhanushali whose names have come to the media were among those independent witnesses, deputy director-general Gyaneshwar Singh said adding that there were a total of nine independent witnessed in the case. None of these witnesses was known to the NCB prior to the raid, the official clarified.
NCB's operation raised questions after Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik released photos of KP Gosavi and Manish Bhanushali arriving and leaving the NCB office on the day of the raid. While Manish Bhanushali is a BJP leader, KP Gosavi himself had fraud cases against him. KP Gosavi also took a selfie with Aryan Khan which went viral and NCB issued a statement denying any association between Gosavi and the agency.
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While the NCB earlier claimed that Manish Bhanushali and KP Gosavi do not belong to the agency, it is the first time that the agency clarified what role they had in the case. Manish Bhanushali admitted to the media that he is a BJP leader and claimed to be an informer in this case.
“As per due procedure established by the law of land, independent public witnesses are mandatorily required to be present during seizure operations. NCB strongly adheres to this procedure and involves at least 2 independent witnesses in all the operations. As the operations are conducted on a real-time basis, field verification of independent witnesses is not possible as the main focus is on the operation and drug recovery. A total of 9 independent witnesses were involved in the whole operation. Manish Bhanushali and KP Gosavi were among them,” Singh said in his statement.
While Gosavi was seen in the selfie with Aryan, Manish Bhanushali was the person who was seen with Arbaaz Merchant, another arrested in the case who has been accused of possession of drugs. Bhanushali earlier said that he was there while the persons detained were being transported, but he was not dragging any of them.
In its statement issued on Saturday, the NCB clarified none of the detained or arrested persons was ill-treated and at that time there was a rush to take them to the safety of the NCB custody. "As high-profile persons were involved in the said case, to avoid unwanted leakages of any information and for the safety of the detained persons, they were rushed to the safety of the NCB office to avoid large crowds and numerous cameras gathered. None of the detained or arrested person was ill-treated in any way," Gyaneshwar Singh said.
