Mumbai:Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan is among the eight people the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has been questioning in connection with the alleged rave party at a cruise off the Mumbai coast on Saturday.
Arbaaz Merchant, Munmun Dhamecha, Nupur Sarika, Ismeet Singh, Mohak Jaswal, Vikrant Chhoker and Gomit Chopra are the others that the NCB is questioning after they were detained from the ship 'The Empress' by Cordel Cruises that was en route to Goa, NCB Mumbai Director Sameer Wankhede told news agency ANI. Drugs such as cocaine, hashish and MD were recovered from them, media reports said.
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"It’s a result of a painstaking investigation that went on for two weeks. We acted on specific intelligence inputs about the involvement of some Bollywood links," NCB chief SN Pradhan said.
"Eight people have been detained for questioning. On the basis of the information that we would receive from them, further raids will be conducted," NCB chief SN Pradhan told news agency ANI. Speaking further, he said the NCB had been gathering inputs and it took action when inputs suggested that "drugs like charas & MDM were carried for consumption at the party".
As the case involves high-profile people and their children, and allegations of a biased probe have surfaced, Pradhan said action will be taken within the purview of law irrespective of the background of the accused. "We are acting in an impartial manner. In the process, if some connections to Bollywood or rich people emerge, so be it. We have to act within the purview of the law," he said, adding, "A drug-free India is our mission."
Reacting to the development, Jurgen Bellom, president and CEO of Cordelia Cruise, claimed innocence. He said, "These passengers were off-loaded by Cordelia immediately. The sailing of the cruise got delayed because of this. Cordelia apologised to the guest families for the delay, which resulted in the delay of their enjoyment of facilities of all kinds, including stage shows and various kinds of foods, garba dancing in this festive season and other events planned on the ship."
Based on a tip-off, the NCB sleuths disguised themselves as passengers and boarded the ship 'The Empress' and detained the high-profile people who were allegedly found to be in possession of the drugs and brought them back to Mumbai on Sunday. According to the NCB, the party began after the ship left Mumbai and was at sea.
Last week, NCB's teams from Mumbai and Goa teams had in a joint operation arrested Bollywood actor Arjun Rampal’s partner Gabriella Demetriades’s brother, a South African, from Goa in connection with a drugs case. They seized charas from him.
The NCB launched an investigation into consumption of drugs by Bollywood celebrities following the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput. It arrested Rajput's actor girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty and her brother Showik among others. They are currrently out on bail.
