MUMBAI, Oct 4: A local court on Monday extended the NCB custody of Aryan Khan, son of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, and two others till October 7 in connection with the seizure of banned drugs onboard a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast.
The trio was produced before the court after the end of their one-day custody given to the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Sunday. The NCB had arrested them after raiding the Goa-bound ship. Hearing was still going on with regards to the custody of other accused arrested in the case.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate R M Nerlikar noted that the investigation in the case is of prime importance and considering this aspect, the presence of the accused before the NCB is necessary. “The fact is that the co-accused in the case were found in possession of drugs and these three accused (Aryan Khan, Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha) were accompanying them. Investigation is of prime importance and hence it is useful for both the prosecution and the accused to prove their innocence,” the court said. Aryan Khan and the two others – Munmun Dhamecha and Arbaaz Merchant- were arrested on Sunday evening and produced before a special holiday court that remanded them to NCB custody till Monday.
Six other accused – Nupur Satija, Ishmeet Chadha, Mohak Jaiswal, Gomit Chopra, Vikrant Chhokar and a drug supplier from suburban Juhu, were arrested late on Sunday and produced before the magistrate’s court on Monday.
The NCB on Monday sought further custody of Aryan Khan, Merchant and Dhamecha till October 11 on the ground that the agency wanted to confront all the arrested accused with each other.
Opposing the custody sought by the NCB, Aryan Khan’s advocate Satish Maneshinde argued that his client had no criminal antecedents and has shown good conduct. Aryan Khan did not run away from NCB officers when the raid was being conducted and had allowed them to search him, Maneshinde said.
Aryan Khan and the other accused were detained late Saturday night by NCB sleuths after they raided the cruise ship that was on its way to Goa from Mumbai. (PTI)
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