Aryan Khan, son of Shah Rukh Khan, sent to NCB custody till Oct 7 in cruise ship drug bust

In a major update in the Mumbai cruise ship drug bust case, the city's Killa court on Monday remanded Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan, as well as Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha, to the NCB's custody till October 7.

The other five accused - Nupur Satija, Mohak Jaiswal, Gomit Chopra, Ishmeet Singh Chadha and Vikrant Chhokar - have also been sent to NCB custody till October 7. For Live Updates on the Mumbai drug bust case follow Republic World's Live Blog here.

This development comes after NCB on Saturday unearthed a high-profile drug party on the Goa-bound ship off the Mumbai coast. Drugs such as Cocaine, Hashish, MD were seized from the accused. Aryan Khan along with seven others were detained by the NCB and was put on official arrest after 15-hours of interrogation. Later, an alleged drug-dealer was also arrested.

Marathon Remand hearing of Aryan Khan & 2 others 

ASG Anil Singh, appearing for NCB before the Mumbai court, said that the accused Aryan Khan and two others are booked under sections 8C, 20, 27, and 35 NDPS Act. He sought their custody till October 11.

NCB in its arguments said, "We have received some information, and then conducted raids. Further, there are five more connected persons under investigation who were apprehended over suspicious transactions. NCB arrested one more person. So we need their custody to unearth the nexus".

Singh further said that "WhatsApp chats (of the accused) clearly shows the nexus after which NCB conducted searches. Aryan Khan’s phone has been seized. There are several suspected chats that show the connection with the dealers. Chats show the discussions of cash transactions of Aryan Khan. It is necessary to confront all in the custodial remand." Moreover, he revealed that there were international transactions.

Advocate Satish Maneshinde, appearing on behalf of Aryan Khan, said, "I (Aryan) was arrested by the NCB before and not in the cruise. I was invited as a guest...My bag was searched, nothing has been found. No recovery or no commercial quantity or anything connected to the NDPS act. NCB took custody of me and my phone. They (NCB) searched my friend Arbaaz, 6 grams of charas was found."

Maneshinde argued that if the contraband substance is not found or seized then "those WhatsApp chats" have no grounds. "If any substance is seized from any other persons (co-accused) that doesn't make any grounds to take my client into custody," he said.

Moreover, Maneshinde claimed that drugs- MDMA, Cocaine and MD- were seized from other accused. "Maybe in the same case but unconnected," he said. The lawyers of the other accused also questioned the need for police custody. 

However, the Judge then asked NCB Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede to take the box and asked if there was a need to grant custody of the accused to the NCB, to which Wankhede said 'Yes.' He added that Aryan Khan had been arrested for drug consumption, and when Satish Maneshinde made an argument seeking bail, ASG Anil Singh countered that the offence was non-bailable and hence the question of bail doesn't arise.

On hearing the arguments of all sides, the Killa court dictated the order remanding the accused including Aryan Khan to NCB custody till October 7. While dictating the order the court also noted that the offences are non-bailable. "Hence at this junction, whether the offence is bailable question does not arise," it said. The court opined that the presence of the accused is need for detailed investigation.