A Mumbai metropolitan court today denied bail to Aryan Khan and two other accused in a case related to the alleged seizure of drugs from a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast. The court had yesterday sent all eight accused to judicial custody while rejecting the NCB’s plea seeking further custody.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate R M Nerlikar rejected the bail application after the defence counsel and Khan’s lawyer presented their arguments before the court. Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh who appeared for the NCB opposed the bail applications of the three accused.
After hearing the arguments, the magistrate said that Aryan Khan, Munmun Dhamecha and Arbaaz Merchant’s applications were not maintainable. The judge agreed with the NCB’s submission that the bail plea should be heard by a sessions court as some drugs had been seized during the cruise ship raid. The NCB also admitted that no drug was recovered from Aryan Khan.
Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, opposing the bail, has contended that releasing Aryan Khan could hamper the case as he could tamper with evidence and influence witnesses. The NCB also insisted that Khan and the other accused are regular users of contraband.
Aryan Khan’s lawyer Satish Maneshinde submitted that the NCB had failed to find drugs from his client’s possession and there is no ground to prosecute Khan. He argued that nothing much has emerged in five days of Aryan’s custody as there was nothing to be found.
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) had arrested these three along with some others over the last weekend after raiding the Goa-bound Cordelia cruise ship on Saturday evening. The central agency had claimed to have recovered drugs from the ship. A total of 18 persons have been arrested so far in the case.