Shatrughan-Sinha-(Read-Only)
Actor Shatrughan Sinha Image Credit: IANS

As the bail hearing for Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan in the drug bust case gets underway in Mumbai, actor and politician Shatrugnan Sinha has claimed that the “boy is being targeted”.

Aryan court 62-1633683222883
Aryan Khan escorted by NCB officials in Mumbai

In an interview with ETimes, senior Congress leader Sinha said: “Shah Rukh is definitely the reason why the boy is being targeted. There are other names like Munmun Dhamecha and Arbaaz Merchant, but nobody is talking about them. The last time such a thing happened, the focus was on Deepika Padukone, although there were other names involved, and known names too, but the focus was on her only.”

Barring a clutch of actors such as Hrithik Roshan and Salman Khan who have openly supported Shah Rukh during this ordeal, not many Bollywood actors have thrown their weight behind the A-lister. Sinha has an explanation for the stoic silence.

“Nobody wants to come forward. Everyone thinks it’s the other person’s problem and he should deal with it. They want the person to fight his own battle. The industry is a bunch of scared folks.”

With Aryan waiting to see if his bail application is accepted today at Mumbai’s Special Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) court, Sinha revealed his own conspiracy theory.

Asked if Aryan was a pawn to target Shah Rukh, Sinha said: “This time they have Aryan Khan to play with, because he is Shah Rukh Khan’s son and they’ve got a chance to settle scores with the actor ... We also know they haven’t found any drug on him, nor have they got any incriminating material. Even if they had found any drug, the punishment is at the most one year but that does not arise in this case. Another big question that needs to be asked after they arrested Aryan and others, why weren’t the urine and blood tests done? That is normally done in these kinds of cases.”

1.2264827-2922848172
Shatrughan Sinha Image Credit: PTI

He also believes that there is more to Aryan’s scandal than meets the eye.

Aryan was arrested on October 2 after the NCB raided a party aboard a luxury ship and detained him and several others.

This case has captured India’s fascination and attention. Following this scandal, Shah Rukh’s advertisements for a mammoth start-up Byju were also pulled temporarily.