Mumbai cruise drug bust case: Accused were negotiating payment in code, says NCB

Aryan Khan being escorted by NCB officers outside Killa court on Monday. Pic/Shadab Khan

The Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate court on Monday extended the custody of Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan and other accused found to be part of the drug party busted by the NCB on Sunday, till October 7, after the agency claimed that they have got some incriminating evidence which points at an international link. The agency had initially asked for two days' custody of the accused, but during the remand argument on Monday, they sought an extension saying they had seized more drugs.

Additional solicitor general (ASG) Anil Singh, who represented the NCB, said some WhatsApp chats recovered from Aryan point at discussions on mode of payments regarding procurement and he also used some code words, which needed to be verified.

The agency's remand application also claims that they have found some evidence from him in the form of photographs, which talks about distribution after procuring drugs in bulk. The NCB further claimed that certain chats indicate that there might be international links to the case. "There are multiple characters in the case, who are yet to be identified," Singh told the court.

NCB takes Aryan for a medical check-up on Monday. Pic/Bipin Kokate

Singh further said that just because a small quantity of drugs was found from Arbaz Merchant, he was not entitled to bail. "We need to find the supplier and details of finances for which custody is needed," Singh told the court.

Advocate Satishmane Shinde, who appeared for Aryan, argued that he was invited as a guest at the party and nothing was recovered from him. "His bag was searched but nothing was found. Later they took his phone and based on some chats he was arrested." Shinde said.

Senior lawyer Taraq Sayed, who appeared for Merchant, said that the remand application had been manipulated and the agency made Aryan a scapegoat. "The quantity of drugs is not mentioned in the remand application," he said.

He added, "What needs to be seen is the material available with NCB as it should not seek custody based on the chats that happened years ago. The remand is misleading. They have recovered only 5 gms of charas from each of the first three accused but they added MDMA and Cocaine later. The remand application is giving them room to manipulate things. They did not show all this in the panchnama presented on Sunday."

Adding further, he said, "Aryan has just been made a scapegoat as nothing was found on him. The agency is just claiming that he was going to consume drugs. They are not seasoned criminals."

Need to probe chats: NCB

The NCB further told the court that the chats they have recovered were a mix of old and new ones, and hence they needed to be investigated. NCB Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede, who was also present during the arguments, told the court that the organisers of the party were not reachable and they wanted to check the connection between them and the consumers.

Responding to the court's query about the amounts of drugs seized from each of the accused, the NCB said nothing was seized from Aryan, 6 gms of Charas was seized from Merchant, 5 gms of Charas from Munmun Dhamecha, 5 gms of Mephedrone and 10 gms of Cocaine from Vikrant Chhokar, 14 MDMA pills from Ishmeet Singh and four MDMA pills from Gomit Chopra. The agency further said that nothing was found from Mohak Jaiswal but he provided four MDMA pills to another accused Nupur Sateja.

Meanwhile, the NCB carried out raids at multiple locations and arrested the ninth accused, Shreyas Nair, who is an event organiser. "He is a group supplier of drugs. We have found some links of celebrities who contacted him. He was also providing drugs to the arrested accused," said a senior NCB officer.

Late in the evening, NCB arrested one more supplier from Jogeshwari and seized MDMA worth Rs 5 lakh from him.