Cruise ship drugs case: Court remands four accused to NCB custody till 11 October

Mumbai: A court here on Tuesday remanded four persons to the custody of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) till 11 October in a case pertaining to the seizure of banned drugs from a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast in which Aryan Khan, son of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, is also an accused. The anti-drugs agency has so far arrested twelve people, including Aryan Khan, after raiding the Goa-bound ship on Saturday. On Tuesday, additional chief metropolitan magistrate RM Nerlikar remanded Abdul Qadir Sheikh (30), Shreyas Nair (23), Manish Rajgariya (26) and Avin Sahu (30) to the NCB custody till 11 October. These four accused were booked under sections 8(c) (produce, manufacture, possess, sell or purchase of drugs) and 27 (punishment for consumption of any narcotics or drugs) and 27 A ( punishment for financing illicit traffic and harbouring offenders) of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS). The court on Monday remanded Aryan Khan (23) and seven others to the NCB custody till Thursday. The NCB had told the court that “shocking and incriminating” material recovered in WhatsApp chats of Aryan Khan and two others arrested in connection with the case showed international drug trafficking. The NCB had also claimed that in the WhatsApp chats, Aryan Khan is discussing modes of payment to be done for procurement (of drugs) and that several code names are being used. Aryan Khan’s lawyer had claimed drugs were not recovered from the possession of his client.