NCB Clears Aryan Khan In Cruise Ship Drugs Bust Case

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Friday issued a press note stating that no drugs were found with Aryan Khan, son of Bollywood actor Shah Rukh and his wife Gauri, and six others during the October 2021 cruise ship drugs bust case.

The press note was released hours after the NCB filed its chargesheet before the special NDPS court, saying "All accused were found in possession of narcotics except Aryan (Khan) and Mohak. The touchstone of the principle of proof beyond reasonable doubt has been applied. Based on which a complaint has been filed against 14 accused and a complaint against six (including Aryan Khan) is not filed due to lack of sufficient evidence."

"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 the SIT, a complaint against 14 persons under various sections of NDPS Act is being filed. Complaint against the rest 06 persons is not being filed due to lack of sufficient evidence," the press note further read.

On October 2, 2021 the NCB conducted a raid where they recovered 13 grams of cocaine, five grams of MD (mephedrone), 21 grams of charas, 22 pills of MDMA (ecstasy), and Rs 1,33,000 cash at the International Cruise Terminal, Mumbai. 23-year-old Khan and several of his friends were arrested in the ensuing drug bust.

On October 28, the Bombay High Court observed that there was no material on record to prove that Aryan Khan and two others hatched a conspiracy to commit a crime in the cruise ship drugs bust case while granting bail.

Also Read: No Evidence of Conspiracy Against Aryan Khan In Drugs Case: Bombay HC

On November 6, 2021 the investigation was transferred from NCB Mumbai (Sameer Wankhede was leading the probe) to a Special Investigations Team (SIT) headed by Sanjay Kumar Singh DDG (Ops).

On March 28, 2021 NCB filed a plea before the special Narcotics Drugs Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act court seeking additional time to file the chargesheet in this matter.

Also Read: Cruise Ship Drugs Bust Case: Mumbai Court Denies Bail to Aryan Khan