Manu Bhanushali told NDTV, “Just because I am a BJP worker, I am being targeted.”
New Delhi:
The involvement of a BJP worker and a private detective in a raid on a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast by India’s anti-drug agency has sparked a controversy. The Narcotics Control Bureau or NCB on Sunday conducted raids and arrested eight people, including actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan. The NCB said drugs like ecstasy and cocaine were found at a party on the cruise ship.
A few days later, videos of the raid surfaced online, which showed two men taking those detained that night to the NCB office.
On Tuesday, Nationalist Congress Party spokesperson Nawab Malik told reporters that Manu Bhanushali, who was seen taking an accused Arbaaz Merchant to the NCB’s office, is a BJP worker. Mr Malik pointed to the photo from his social media profile of Mr Bhanushali with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.
Bhanushali told NDTV that she had received information from a friend outside Maharashtra that a party where drugs would be used would be held on October 1. “I am a BJP worker for the last 10-15 years, just one out of 11 crore workers. Just because I am a BJP worker, I am being targeted. Nawab Malik’s son-in-law was caught in a drug case, That’s why he is targeting me. My intention is only to save the youth of this country from the menace of drugs.” Mr Bhanushali told NDTV.
Asked if he knew that Aryan Khan would be in the party, Bhanushali said, “I didn’t know that Aryan Khan would be in the party. I have WhatsApp chats to prove that if there is an investigation, I will on the phone. “
The NCB had said that 13 grams of cocaine, 21 grams of charas, 22 pills of MDMA and 5 grams of MD were found in high-profile drug raids leading to the arrest of 23-year-old Aryan Khan.
The BJP worker, who frequently visits Delhi, said that no party worker has contacted him yet, but he will talk to “officers”. Bhanushali said, “I will go to the authorities for security. BJP has nothing to do with the arrests. My life is in danger in Maharashtra. I have come to Delhi for my personal security.”
Earlier, NCP’s Nawab Malik had alleged that “not a single gram of drug was seized on the cruise or at the terminal”.
Malik said, “Aryan Khan’s arrest is a forgery. For the past one month, information was being circulated to crime journalists that the next target is actor Shah Rukh Khan.”
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