A Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) official heading the probe into the involvement of actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son in a drug trafficking case has termed the report claiming no evidence against Aryan as “highly premature”. Sanjay Singh, the head of the NCB’s special investigation team (SIT), said that the probe into the drugs-on-cruise case is still underway and the team has not arrived at any conclusion yet, reported news agency.
“Highly premature to say that there’s no evidence against Aryan Khan. Probe still in progress; recorded multiple statements. Have not reached any conclusion yet,” news agency quoted Singh as saying.
News agency reported that SIT team found no evidence pointing to Aryan Khan’s involvement in a larger drugs conspiracy or an international drugs trafficking syndicate. Several irregularities were found in the raid on the Cordelia cruise ship during which Shah Rukh’s son was arrested, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named.
Some of the key findings of the SIT, shared by officials with news agency, also contradicted the allegations of NCB’s Mumbai unit then headed by Sameer Wankhede. The findings suggest that Aryan Khan was never in possession of drugs, so his phone seizure and probing the chats were not required. The irregularities during the raid included the absence of video recording as mandated by the NCB manual.
SIT’s review of the Cordelia probe revealed that Khan never asked his friend Arbaaz Merchant to bring drugs on the ship. This was corroborated by Merchant during his questioning.
News agency also reported that the probe is not complete and “it could be a couple of months before it submits its final report to NCB Director General S N Pradhan.”