Team Clarion
NEW DELHI — There is no evidence that Aryan Khan, son of Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, was part of a larger drugs conspiracy or an international drugs trafficking syndicate, a probe by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has found, as per sources, media reports say.
However, officials refused to speak on the matter. They only said that there were some irregularities in the raid conducted on the Goa-bound Cordelia Yachat during which Aryan was arrested on October 3,2021.
Some of the key findings of the SIT, shared by officials with Hindustan Times, are:
- Aryan Khan was never in possession of drugs hence there was no need to take his phone and check his chats;
- The chats do not suggest Khan was part of any international syndicate; the raid was not video-recorded as mandated by the NCB manual; and
- The drugs recovered from multiple accused arrested in the case shown as single recovery.
The SIT probe is not complete, according to sources and it could be a couple of months before it submits its final report to NCB Director General S N Pradhan.
A legal opinion will be taken before the final decision, particularly on the aspect whether Khan can be charged for consumption even though he was not carrying any drugs , said one of the officers, according to the HT.
An NCB team headed by the then Mumbai Zone head, Sameer Wankhede, had conducted a raid on the Cordelia Cruise yacht where a drug party was reportedly underway on the intervening night of October 2 and 3.
Aryan Khan and few others were detained by the team on charges of drug conspiracy and consuming drugs.
Khan was placed under arrest by the NCB team on October 3. After interrogation, he was remanded to judicial custody. His first bail was dismissed by the trial court. Later, Khan through his counsel, approached Bombay High Court which granted him bail on October 28. Due to legal procedures, he was freed from the jail on October 30.
So far, the NCB has arrested 20 people, including two Nigerian nationals.
— With inputs from IANS
