Aryan Khan case: Narcotics bureau denies bias as Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan’s driver called in for questioning

A day after Aryan Khan and two others were denied bail and sent to Arthur Road jail following a 14-day judicial custody order, the Narcotics Control Bureau or NCB has found itself once again at the centre of the storm facing accusations of bias in the drug bust that has seen 18 people arrested in the case so far.

NCB’s denial comes even as Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s driver was called in for questioning earlier today, according to media reports.

Earlier in the day, Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik (pictured) released videos on social media while questioning the NCB over its conduct following the raid aboard a Mumbai cruise ship bound for Goa, which resulted in the arrested of Shah Rukh’s son Aryan and seven others. Malik questioned why 11 people were detained on the night of October 2 but three were let go while eight remained behind bars.

“After the raid on the cruise, NCB’s Sameer Wankhede had said that 8-10 people were detained. But the truth is that 11 people were detained. Later, three people… were released,” Malik stated as reported by ANI, adding that they were set free even as their names of the three individuals came up during a court hearing.

“We want to ask the NCB that when they had detained 11 people after the cruise ship raid, then on whose directions did they release the three people? We demand the NCB to reveal the facts. We think there might have been some talk between Sameer Wankhede and the BJP leaders,” the NCP leader further alleged that the BJP’s Mohit Kamboj got his brother in-law Rishabh Sachdeva freed who was one of the three people let go after being detained.

Malik also called for a probe by Mumbai Police to investigate the matter further. “Mumbai Police's Anti-Narcotics cell should conduct an independent investigation into this. I will write to the Chief Minister (Uddhav Thackeray) also. If required, an enquiry commission should be set up to probe the raids,” the 62-year-old leader further added.

In retaliation, the NCB issued a statement of its own denying any such allegation. “Narcotics Control Bureau follows a professional and unbiased approach in its ongoing mission of tackling the drug menace in the country. NCB takes actions either on the basis of inputs received from public sources or based on developed intelligence inputs incorporating various surveillance means,” the statement read.

“All the allegations levelled against NCB are baseless, motivated afterthoughts and prejudiced in nature. Such statements are based on conjecture and assumptions. These assumptions are frivolous and malicious in view of documents and records of procedures duly followed by NCB that can subject to legal verification,” the statement continued.

Hours after NCB issued the statement, Shah Rukh’s driver appeared for questioning at the authority’s office in Mumbai after the agency issued summons to him.

Amidst this war of words, NCB’s Mumbai zonal officer Sameer Wankhede has found himself the unlikely hero of the masses with the officer trending on Twitter earlier today with people lauding him for his efforts to eradicate the drug menace in the city.

Earlier in the day, the NCB also raided Bollywood producer Imtiyaz Khatri’s home in connection with the rave party operation of October 2, officials said on Saturday. The raids which started early on Saturday in the Mumbai suburb of Bandra, followed the revelation of Khatri’s alleged involvement during the interrogation of some of the accused persons arrested earlier by the NCB.

Khatri’s name had also cropped up during the investigations into the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput (pictured) last year for allegedly supplying drugs to him and other film personalities.

Elsewhere, Shah Rukh received a blow when IPO-bound edtech major Byju’s has reportedly decided to temporarily halt advertisements featuring the actor as its brand ambassador. Sources quoted by IANS stated all ads featuring the actor had apparently been stopped after social media users criticised the edtech company for endorsing ads featuring Shah Rukh, who has been the Byju’s brand ambassador since 2017.