Aryan Khan drug case: Bollywood star Ananya Panday to be questioned again and more developments

The Aryan Khan drug investigation appears to get murkier with each passing day. After Aryan’s friend and Bollywood star Ananya Panday was called in for questioning by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NBC) on Thursday and Friday, it now appears she will have to return to the authority on Monday once again for further inquiry, which was confirmed by NCB Deputy Director General Ashok Mutha Jain who addressed the media present.

The 22-year-old actor, who made her Bollywood debut in 2019 with Karan Johar’s ‘Student of the Year 2’, was questioned close to four hours by the agency on Friday, which also raided her home a day earlier and reportedly confiscated a laptop and her cellphone.

Later news agency ANI quoted the central agency on the reason behind the probe. “Questioning of actor Ananya Panday being done over some suspicious financial transactions and also in connection with WhatsApp chats with Aryan Khan. The actor was questioned regarding this yesterday,” the NCB said.

According to India TV, the agency is suspecting that parts of many conversations including mobile chats, photos, voice notes have been most likely deleted. Panday has reportedly denied the allegation of using drugs or helping Aryan procure drugs by connecting him to several peddlers.

The actor is a BFF to Suhana Khan, who is the sister to Aryan, and her family are close friends with Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan and wife Gauri Khan. | Panday and Suhana pictured here with Shanaya Kapoor and Navya Naveli Nanda

On both days, Panday’s actor-father Chunky Panday accompanied her to the NCB office as the investigation into the Cordelia Cruise drug bust continues to grab news headlines around the world.

Aryan, who was arrested on October 3, is one of 20 people who have been arrested in the case so far. After being denied bail several times, his bail plea will be heard by the Bombay High Court on October 26. Currently, the 23-year-old is behind bars at the Arthur Road Jail.

In his appeal in the high court against the special court order, Aryan said NCB’s “interpretation and misinterpretation” of the WhatsApp chats collected from his mobile phone was “wrong and unjustified.” The 23-year-old claimed no contraband was recovered from him after the NCB raided the ship and maintained he has no connection with any of the other accused in the case except Arbaaz Merchant and Aachit Kumar.

On Friday, his famous father caused media frenzy when he visited the prison to meet his son. Meanwhile, the NCB told a Mumbai court on Friday that one of the co-accused Aachit Kumar was reportedly supplying drugs to Aryan and to another co-accused Arbaaz Merchant. The person in question has sought bail on the grounds of illegal detention claiming that no illegal substance was found on him.