Aryan Khan, 2 others remanded to police custody till Oct 4 in Mumbai cruise drug bust case

In the latest development in the Mumbai cruise drug bust case, a Killa court bench on Sunday remanded Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan and two others- Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha - to police custody till October 4.

The development comes after Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Saturday busted a high-profile drug party on a cruise ship en route from Mumbai to Goa and seized Cocaine, Hashish, MD, and other drugs. The two-night rave party aboard the cruise ship allegedly involving celebrities, including actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan, was busted by the NCB after an eight-hour-long operation. Aryan Khan along with 7 others was detained by the NCB and was put into official arrest after 15-hour-long interrogation. 

Minutes of remand hearing of Aryan Khan & 2 others 

NCB in its argument said, "An intelligence operation was carried in a cruise that departed from Mumbai for Goa.  22 officers got inside the argument, and conducted raids shocking to know that starting from 10 am till 2 AM in the night recovery is 13 grams of cocaine, 5 grams of MD, 23 grams of charas, 22 pills MDMA, and 1.33 lakhs INR." It added, "8 persons apprehended, three are before you. Others will be produced before the court in a day or two." 

NCB claimed that incriminating chats had been recovered, and highlighted the need for further probe. " Custodial interrogation is required," said NCB, seeking Aryan and others' custody for two more days.

Representing Aryan Khan, Advocate Satish Maneshinde argued that the offences were bailable. "Aryan was invited by the organizers of the party as a special invitee. He neither had a boarding pass nor a cabin booked. He just boarded the cruise and was seen with his friends, and was subsequently taken by the NCB officers, "Maneshinde said. He added, "Instead of two, the court can grant one-day custody so that I can make a proper application before the court." 

The lawyer representing Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamcha argued that the remand application is very vague. "Nothing specifically has been mentioned about the seizure from the accused no 1 (Aryan), no 2 (Arbaaz), and no 3 - (Munmun)," the lawyer said, asking the bench to grant Judicial custody as they apply for bail in the case of bailable offenses.

NCB said, "These are people who have their own status, however, in a matter like this, we request custody. Law should be equal for everyone." The Central agency added, "Their allegations are serious and therefore, their custody for two days should be allowed."

On hearing the arguments of all sides, the Court dictated the order remanding the accused including Aryan Khan to police custody till October 4.