Mumbai: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has vehemently opposed the bail plea of Aryan Khan, son of Hindi film superstar Shah Rukh Khan in the Bombay High Court. It has said that Aryan Khan is in a very ‘influential position’ and so he could try and tamper with the investigation and create problems. The probe agency has also alleged in a statement to the Bombay High Court that the superstar’s manager ‘appeared to have influenced’ a witness.
The NCB has given a written reply opposing Aryan’s bail plea which it filed in the court Monday. The anti-drugs agency said it needed more time to follow what it called the ‘international drug connection of Aryan Khan’ revealed in the investigation. “The same is being investigated and as per stipulated guidelines, sufficient time is required to properly unearth this international drug connection,” the NCB has said.
“Further, considering the influential position Aryan Khan holds in the society, he may tamper with the evidence and influence other witnesses whom he personally knows is very much possible,” the probe agency told the High Court.
The details of the written statement emerged just before the High Court hearing on the bail request of Aryan Khan, who has been in jail since October 8 over drugs-related charges. The star son is among 20 people arrested after NCB officers raided a party on a cruise ship.
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The NCB referred to the sensational allegations of a witness, Prabhakar Sail, who has claimed in an affidavit that Kiran Gosavi, the private investigator whose selfie with Aryan Khan went viral and threw up questions, had planned to demand Rs 25 crore from Shah Rukh’s manager Pooja Dadlani to settle the case. Of this, he claimed, Rs 8 crore was meant for Sameer Wankhede, the NCB officer leading the investigation. The NCB said attempts to derail the investigation were ‘clear’ from Prabhakar Sail’s affidavit, filed Saturday,
The affidavit clearly names one Pooja Dadlani, manager connected to this applicant (Aryan Khan). “It so appears that the said lady appears to have influenced such panch witness when the investigation is ongoing, such interference at the stage of investigation is a malafide attempt to ensure that the same is derailed and the quest of truth is obstructed,” the anti-drugs agency wrote to the High Court.
