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Mumbai: A special court in Mumbai on Wednesday refused to grant bail to Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan and two others in connection with the seizure of banned drugs on a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast.
Special Judge VV Patil, designated to hear cases related to the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, rejected the bail pleas of Aryan Khan, his friend Arbaaz Merchant and fashion model Munmun Dhamecha.
Now he has to approach the Bombay High Court for bail.
When the matter was called for orders in the afternoon, Special Judge Patil said, “Rejected.”
The trio were arrested on October 3 by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) for alleged conspiracy, possession, consumption, purchase and smuggling of drugs.
Aryan Khan and others have been booked under sections 8(c), 20(b), 27, 28, 29 and 35 of the NDPS Act.
At present, all three are in judicial custody. Aryan Khan and Merchant are lodged in Mumbai’s Arthur Road Jail, while Dhamecha is lodged in Byculla Women’s Jail here.
Aryan Khan, in his bail plea, had contended that the NCB’s contention that he was involved in conspiracy and illegal drug smuggling was absurd, stating that there was no seizure of drugs from him.
The NCB, however, opposed the bail plea and said that Aryan Khan was consuming drugs for some years and was in contact with some people who appear to be part of an international drug network to procure drugs.
The agency was relying on Aryan Khan’s WhatsApp chat, which they claim points to the purchase of drugs in large quantities.
The NCB had argued that though there was no recovery from Aryan Khan, the recovery of six grams of charas from his friend Arbaaz Merchant points to the conscious possession by Aryan Khan.
So far 20 people have been arrested in this case.
Read also: Aryan Khan is the second in the Shahrukh Khan family to be implicated in the court case.
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