NCP minister says Aryan Khan and Co were trapped by BJP

K P Gosavi escorts Aryan Khan, while (left) Manish Bhanushali escorts Arbaaz Merchant to the NCB office

The NCP on Wednesday produced evidence during a press meet, alleging that a false case has been registered against Aryan Khan and things are being manipulated by the NCB. Cabinet Minister and Chief Spokesperson of NCP, Nawab Malik said the two unknown men spotted escorting Aryan and Arbaz Merchant on October 2 are BJP men with direct links to senior party cadres. Responding to NCP's allegations, the agency said the two men were independent witnesses and refused to answer any further questions regarding them.

During the press conference, Malik shared two videos in which one person is seen escorting Aryan to the NCB office, while the other was with Merchant. The person who was walking with Aryan had also clicked a selfie with him after his arrest.

Malik, who addressed the media on Wednesday, displayed a powerpoint presentation to show all the evidence he had to support his allegations. "After Aryan's arrest, a selfie of an unknown person with him went viral and NCB said that he is not from the agency. We tracked the details of the person and found that he belongs to the BJP and claims to be a private detective," Malik said.

K P Gosavi's selfie with Aryan Khan that went viral

The NCP further claimed that the person who was seen with Aryan is K P Gosavi and the one escorting Merchant is Manish Bhanushali. "These two are BJP representatives. Bhanushali holds the position of vice president as per his Facebook status, but BJP should clarify how he is associated with the party. There are multiple photographs of him with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and BJP president JP Nadda," Malik added. He further said, "I want to know how a private person is escorting the accused and especially when he is associated with the ruling party? We expect a clarification from the NCB."

‘NCB targeting Bollywood'

Malik in his press briefing also alleged that since the Sushant Singh Rajput case, NCB has been targeting Bollywood. Even in Aryan's case, nothing was seized at the cruise party, but planted on the accused at the NCB office. "The videos of seizure that the NCB shared with the press clearly show that they were shot in the NCB office. The entire operation was fake and carried out with the sole purpose of hogging publicity. Not a single gram of drug was seized from the arrested people. No panchnama was done. Some days ago, there was information that Shah Rukh Khan would be the next target. You are aware of the relations between the BJP and SRK," he added.

Launching more attacks on the NCB, Malik said that after the case Wankhede spoke to the media on camera and said that 8-10 people had been arrested. "Why such a vague statement? When you're investigating the case you should know the exact numbers. We want to know if there are 10 people because only eight have been shown as arrested. Who are the other two or have they been allowed to leave?"

The cabinet minister further said that they tracked the location of Bhanushali and found that he was in Ahmedabad in the last week of September meeting various politicians. During the same period drugs worth thousands of crores were seized at Adani port. "The agency must clarify if these two cases have any links," said Malik.

Speaking to the press in Delhi, Bhanushali said, "I just gave information to the NCB as a responsible citizen, I was there in the capacity of a witness as requested by the NCB. My party (BJP) has nothing to do with the arrest. I don't hold any position in the party; I am just a worker. Malik's allegations are baseless. I will file a defamation case against him. My life is in danger, the government should provide security to me."

When mid-day contacted Bhanushali, he said, "On October 1, I got information and shared it with the NCB immediately. An NCB officer told me that they had got similar information about the use of drugs at the cruise party. After the raid I had gone to the NCB office as a witness along with others. I had no idea that this would become a political issue. I risked my life and fulfilled my duty. Those who are taking and selling drugs should be punished."

NCB responds

NCB Deputy Director General Gyaneshwar Singh along with Wankhede addressed the media on Wednesday. Singh read out a written statement about the details of the case and said that the allegations levelled against them were baseless. "There are several independent witnesses in the case as per the law," Singh said.

He further read the statement mentioning the names of a few witnesses, which includes that of Gosavi and Bhanushali, but didn't respond to the questions on how independent witnesses were escorting the accused and their connections with the ruling party. "Allegations levelled against the organisation are by people who were previously affected by NCB's legal action. If anyone has any reservations, they can approach the court, we will respond," he added.

This year in January NCB arrested Malik's son-in-law in a drugs case. "I have full faith in the judiciary and if he has done anything wrong, he should be punished, as no one is above the law. But those who are asking questions must read the chargesheet in my son-in-law's case and ask questions to the NCB. He is out on bail and is fighting everything legally," Malik said. Meanwhile, responding to the allegations, Opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis said it wasn't difficult to understand Malik's pain whenever the NCB came into the picture. "Do I need to say it? We all know it," he said.