More than a year after Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan was arrested and jailed by the Narcotics Control Bureau in a false case of the drug racket, the Indian government has come down heavily on the agency. Home Minister Amit Shah, whose ministry is responsible for managing the affairs of the NCB, has now told the agency to focus on the supplier of the banned substance instead of arresting an individual for allegedly consuming drugs.
Speaking at anti-narcotics task forces from states and union territories, Shah said that agencies ‘should change their approach and investigate the entire drug trafficking network to completely eradicate the menace of drugs.’
He said, “Friends, we should remember one thing that we should adopt a top to bottom and bottom-to-top approach in the investigation. If an individual is caught while taking drugs or is caught with one pouch of drugs, then it cannot amount to a case for us. Instead, a full probe must be launched to find out how drugs reached India and from which country.”
Shah added, “We cannot achieve success by investigating the gunaah (crime). We need to investigate the network behind that crime.”
Shah’s statement assumes significance in light of the NCB’s handling of the Aryan Khan case. Aryan was arrested by a rogue NCB officer, Sameer Wankhede, from a Goa-bound cruise ship before the star son was given a clean chit.
Background
The NCB had arrested Aryan Khan along with eight others from a Goa-bound cruise ship on charges of consuming and being involved in the drug racket syndicate. Aryan had spent nearly a month in a Mumbai jail until the Bombay High Court granted him bail.
Last month, the NCB gave Aryan a clean chit and took a host of measures to improve its image. One of the measures included the transfer of disgraced former NCB officer Sameer Wankhede to Chennai.
While giving Aryan a clean chit, the NCB had said, “SIT carried out its investigation in an objective manner. The touchstone of the principle of proof beyond reasonable doubt has been applied. Based on the investigation carried out by SIT, a complaint against 14 persons under various sections of NDPS Act is being filed. Complaint against rest 6 persons is not being filed due to lack of sufficient evidence.”
Narcotics Control Bureau witness Prabhakar Sail, who had alleged extortion in the Aryan Khan arrest case, later died of a so-called heart attack.