After spending 25 days in prison, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan was granted bail by the Bombay High Court on Thursday in the drugs-on-cruise case. Aryan’s friend Arbaaz Merchant and model Munmun Dhamecha were also granted bail, but the three will only walk free either on Friday or Saturday.
The three were arrested on October 3 after an NCB team, led by the agency’s zonal director Sameer Wankhede, raided a Goa-bound ship off the Mumbai coast. The high-profile case was a subject of much debate, scrutiny and discussion for the last three weeks. It also saw a new twist after an NCB witness claimed that a Rs 25-crore money deal was made on behalf of some NCB officials, including Wankhede, to let off Aryan, a charge that was dismissed by the agency.
Here’s a look at the key highlights of the case:
– On October 7, a Mumbai court sent Aryan and seven other accused to 14-day judicial custody. The next day, October 8, the court rejected the bail pleas of Aryan, Merchant and Dhamecha.
– On October 20, Aryan, lodged at the Arthur Road Jail, moved the Bombay HC.
– On October 21, NCB summoned Bollywood actress Ananya Panday for questioning. She was asked about her WhatsApp chats with Aryan, and the actress claimed she never used any narcotics. She was also asked if Aryan Khan was ordering drugs, whether he was ordering drugs for himself and his friends; and who provided the drugs to her. The same day the NCB visited her Mumbai residence to collect a few documents.
– On October 21, an NCB team went to Shah Rukh Khan’s residence too to collect some documents regarding his son Aryan Khan, but no raids were conducted during the visit. “NCB team visited Shah Rukh Khan’s residence to collect some documents related to Aryan Khan. No raids were conducted at ‘Mannat’,” Wankhede had said at the time.
-A special court in Mumbai on October 21 had extended the judicial custody of Aryan and seven other accused in the case till October 30.
– On October 24, an allegation of Rs 25 crore bribe added a new twist to the case. Witness Prabhakar Sail (40), a driver of absconding alleged private investigator KP Gosavi, whose selfie with Aryan Khan went viral, claimed that there was a demand of Rs 25 crore bribe to let off Aryan. Prabhakar told media persons that he had overheard Gosavi telling one Sam D’Souza over the phone after Aryan Khan was brought to the NCB office following the October 3 raid on the Goa-bound ship about a demand of Rs 25 crore and to settle at Rs 18 crore as they “have to give Rs eight crore to Sameer Wankhede.”
– The NCB responded to the extortion claims, saying as Prabhakar was a witness in the case, which is before the court and sub-judice, he needed to “submit his prayer to the Honorable court rather than through social media if he has anything to say”. The statement, signed by NCB DDG Mutha Ashok, also added that Wankhede has categorically denied the allegations.
– Following this, Wankhede requested Mumbai police commissioner to ensure no legal action is falsely carried out against him based on “ulterior motives”. Wankhede, in a letter to the commissioner, said that some “unknown persons” are involved in initiating legal action against him in relation to the drug bust case.
– A vigilance inquiry was then ordered against Wankhede to probe into the extortion claims.
– On October 27, for more than four hours, Wankhede answered a barrage of questions posed by a vigilance team headed by Deputy Director General (northern region) Gyaneshwar Singh in connection with the allegations of extortion.
– On October 28, Wankhede moved the Bombay High Court, seeking interim protection from arrest or any coercive action against him. The Maharashtra government the same day told the Bombay High Court that it will not arrest Wankhede without giving him prior notice of three working days, in connection with the allegations of extortion levelled against him.
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