Mumbai: Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan cried inconsolably after being arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).
Aryan, Munmun Dhamecha and Arbaaz Merchant were picked up late Saturday and were questioned at the NCB office at Ballard Pier in south Mumbai after a rave party was busted on a Goa-bound cruise ship. “Khan was apologetic when we asked him to accompany us to the NCB office,” an official of the anti-drug agency told TOI.
According to India Today, Aryan’s questioning revealed that he had been consuming drugs for almost four years. He used to do so even when he was in the UK, Dubai and other countries, NCB sources were quoted as saying.
Aryan is in NCB custody for a day. The remand application submitted in the court stated that the WhatsApp chats “clearly showed the nexus of those arrested with suppliers and peddlers on a regular basis”.
Also Read: Rave Party On Cruise Ship: NCB Seeks 2-Day Remand Of SRK’s Son Aryan, 2 Others
Aryan’s lawyer Satish Maneshinde, however, told the court he was invited to the cruise party. “He did not have a boarding pass. He didn’t have any seats or cabins there. Secondly, according to the seizure, nothing has been found in his possession. He is arrested only on the basis of chats,” he said.
About 13 gm of cocaine, 21gm of charas or hashish, 22 pills of MDMA (ecstasy), 5gm mephedrone and cash worth ₹1.33 lakh were seized during the raid. Aryan has been booked only for consumption under Section 27 of the NDPS Act, which attracts a maximum punishment of one year or with a fine that may extend to Rs 20,000, an NCB official said.
Also Read: Old Clip Of SRK Saying He Is Okay With Son Doing Drugs Surfaces
Maneshinde said he would file for his bail on Monday before the regular court.
Aryan and Merchant were given free entry on the cruise liner as the organisers hoped to capitalise on the former’s celebrity quotient for furthering their business interests, an official was quoted as saying by TOI.
The six organisers had charged anything from Rs 60,000 to Rs 3 lakh for a ticket and there were 1,300 people on the cruise ship, the national daily further said.
“The Austrian owner of the ship has been summoned,” said an NCB officer.
Also Read: When Aryan Khan’s Mother Gauri Was Detained For Possession Of Marijuana
Meanwhile, CEO and president, Waterways Leisure Tourism Pvt Ltd, Jurgen Bailom in a statement, said, “I wish to express that Cordelia Cruises is in no way, directly or indirectly, connected to this incident. This incident is contrarian and far from the culture that Cordelia Cruises represents. We, at Cordelia Cruises, condemn all acts such as these and will strictly refrain from letting our ship out for similar events in the future. Nonetheless, Cordelia Cruises is extending our support and cooperating with authorities”.