Mumbai: In a sensational weekend development, Aryan Khan, son of Bollywood mega-star Shah Rukh Khan and producer Gauri, and two others were on Sunday arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Sunday in connection with the rave party busted aboard an Indian luxury cruise liner, Cordelia.
The star son and two others – who were among eight, including two girls, detained by the NCB since morning – are likely to be produced before a magistrate court shortly.
They were taken for a medical examination to a government hospital, but the NCB has not yet made any official statement on the latest development.
The action came after the NCB’s dramatic swoop on Saturday evening aboard the Cordelia Cruises deluxe ship as it was preparing for a scheduled Mumbai-Goa voyage, stunning the people, especially in the entertainment industry.
A leaked video clip of a dazed Aryan Khan sitting with a few others in the NCB office, was flashed by some local TV channels, with the likelihood of more prominent names emerging.
Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Director-General SN Pradhan said that all the eight accused were detained on Saturday during raids carried out by an NCB team in Mumbai.
“Of the eight accused, three are from Delhi,” Pradhan said. He further said all the eight accused are currently being questioned and are likely to be arrested.
All the eight detainees have been identified as — Aryan Khan, Arbaaz Merchant, Munmun Dhamecha, Nupur Sarika, Ismeet Singh, Mohak Jaswal, Vikrant Chhoker and Gomit Chopra.
Of these, Mohak, Nupur and Gomit are from Delhi. Mohak and Nupur are both fashion designers while Gomit is a hair stylist. Sources confirmed to IANS that both Mohak and Nupur had come to Delhi with Gomit.
In the first of its kind operation on a deluxe cruise ship, the NCB swooped onto the rave party being held on the Cordelia ship off the Mumbai coast and detained 8 persons including Aryan Khan.
The NCB said that during the raid, it has recovered various popular party drugs like Cocaine, MDMA, Ecstasy, Mephedrone and Charas.
“A total of 8 persons, including two females have been apprehended and their role is being investigated in relation to the said recovery. Crime No 94/21 has been registered in this matter. Further investigation is underway,” the NCB said in a statement.
The action – which stunned Mumbaikars and rattled the rich crowds – started on Saturday afternoon, and is still continuing with the process of registering the FIR, with the possibility of some high-profile arrests.
NCB Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede, who led the raid on the ship along with a team of officials, declined to comment on the developments as the investigations are underway.
The operation followed a tip-off on the proposed rave party that was planned aboard the Cordelia ship bound on a scheduled Mumbai-Goa voyage, setting sail from the International Cruise Terminal, Mumbai.
The participation for the party was reportedly done via social media with the ticket rates upwards of Rs 75,000 per person.
To avoid detection, the NCB sleuths booked themselves on that cruise as ordinary passengers and they soon found some of their co-passengers consuming drugs.
Then the NCB launched its full-scale raid, detained at least 8 persons including two women consuming drugs, and seized different types of narcotics in varying quantities.
Simultaneously, the Cordelia ship with an estimated 1,500 passengers, was ordered to turn and sail back to the ICT at Ballard Pier where the detained passengers were offloaded along with their baggage.
A comprehensive search of their belongings as also the cruise ship is being carried out, while the detainees were sent for a medical examination.