Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik has sensationally claimed that the next target was Shah Rukh Khan after the Narcotics Control Bureau arrested the actor’s son Aryan Khan in a drug case. Terming the arrest of Aryan as ‘forgery,’ Malik said that the next target Shah Rukh Khan.
Malik also questioned the credibility of the NCB raid on the Cordelia Cruise ship on 2 October, alleging that it had not followed the due procedure as per the NDPS Act, and two non-NCB persons’ involvement in what he said was a fake operation.
“The BJP and the NCB must come clear who are these two persons and why were they seen in the so-called ship raid. Both these persons are fakes and the NCB raid was a fraud intended only for grabbing publicity,” the minister was quoted by news agency IANS as saying.
Malik also alleged the involvement of a BJP leader in the NCB raid on the cruise, adding that there was a video showing a man bringing one of those detained. “There’s a video of a man bringing Arbaaz Merchant to the NCB office. This person is Manish Bhanushali, who is the vice person of the some wings of the BJP. Bhanushali’s social media profile shows pics with Devendra Fadnavis.”
First big political attack in cruise ship drug bust, NCP's Nawab Malik alleges BJP's links to NCB raid. @sahiljoshii with details. #DrugsCase #CruiseShipDrugBust #Maharashtra #Mumbai pic.twitter.com/e1Sh2kg9Qd
— IndiaToday (@IndiaToday) October 6, 2021
Khan was arrested along with seven other people from a Goa-bound cruise ship on Sunday. Other arrested along with Aryan were Arbaaz Merchant, Munmun Dhamecha, Nupur Sarika, Ismeet Singh, Mohak Jaswal, Vikrant Chhoker and Gomit Chopra.
Aryan was sent to NCB custody till 7 October by a Mumbai court.
According to the Bar and Bench website, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate RM Nerlikar had noted in the order, “For the circumstances presented to me, it seems that the co-accused possess intermediate contraband and the present accused (Khan) accompanied them. Investigation is of prime importance. It will be essential for prosecution and accused to prove is innocent.”