Aryan Khan, son of Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, will continue to remain in jail after the special Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) court on Wednesday dismissed his bail plea application in the Mumbai cruise ship drugs’ case. The 23-year-old has been lodged in Arthur Road jail since October 7 after being initially held by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on October 2.
Besides Aryan, the court rejected the bail applications of other accused persons Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha.
Aryan, Merchant and Dhamecha were among eight accused who have so far been held by the NCB in the drugs case that was busted after the central agency raided Cordelia – a Goa-bound cruise ship, earlier this month.
The case has created enormous buzz and also saw NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede alleging that he is being followed by and spied on by two Mumbai Police personnel. His security was tightened last week after he met Maharashtra director general of police (DGP) Sanjay Pandey, seeking the same.
Mumbai Police chief Hemant Nagrael took cognisance of the complaint later, and ordered an additional commissioner of police to inquire into the allegations and submit a report.
Prior today, the last time the court met was on October 14 in order to hear arguments in the matter. At the time, the NCB opposed Aryan's bail application, with the agency's lawyer Anil Singh saying that the 23-year-old is a regular consumer of drugs as per his WhatsApp chats. Singh also referred to Bollywood actress Rhea Chakraborty and her brother Showik in the late Sushant Singh Rajput's death case, saying that not being found in possession of drugs doesn't rule out the requirement to stay behind bars. The NCB counsel said no drug was found from Showik's possession but the matter was probed regardless.
{{/usCountry}}Prior today, the last time the court met was on October 14 in order to hear arguments in the matter. At the time, the NCB opposed Aryan's bail application, with the agency's lawyer Anil Singh saying that the 23-year-old is a regular consumer of drugs as per his WhatsApp chats. Singh also referred to Bollywood actress Rhea Chakraborty and her brother Showik in the late Sushant Singh Rajput's death case, saying that not being found in possession of drugs doesn't rule out the requirement to stay behind bars. The NCB counsel said no drug was found from Showik's possession but the matter was probed regardless.
{{/usCountry}}Last week, Aryan along with others were shifted to the general cell of the Arthur Road jail, following the completion of their isolation period, news agency PTI had reported citing jail officials. He also received a money order of ₹4,500 from his family and spoke with his parents Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan over a video call, news agency ANI had reported.