Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has found that there is no evidence that Aryan Khan was part of a larger drugs conspiracy or an international drugs trafficking syndicate, Hindustan Times reported.
The key findings of the SIT team have also found several irregularities in the raid on the luxury cruise, during which Sharukh Khan’s son Aryan was arrested. Officials have also shared some of the findings that are contrary to the allegations of Mumbai’s NCB unit, including that Aryan Khan was never in possession of drugs, so there was no need to take his phone and check the chats, his chats don’t suggest he was part of an international drug syndicate, the raid wasn’t video-recorded as mandated by the NCB manual and drugs recovered from the multiple accused arrested in the case have been shown as single recovery.
Speaking to the daily, one of the officers said that the SIT probe is not over and it might take a couple of months for the final report to be submitted to NCB Director General SN Pradhan. A legal opinion will also be taken on whether Aryan Khan can be charged with consumption even though no drugs were found on him, before the final decision.
The SIT probe has also raised more questions on the conduct of the agency’s former Mumbai Zonal Unit director Sameer Wankhede. The SIT’s review of the Cordelia probe has involved questioning all the arrested persons, witnesses, and officials who were part of the raid. It has also revealed that Aryan did not ask his friend Arbaaz Merchant to bring drugs on the cruise; a fact corroborated by the latter during his questioning.
Meanwhile, the procedural lapses are being looked into by the agency in a separate inquiry.
In October last year, a team of officers led by Wankhede, along with some witnesses raided a cruise ship, Cordelia, at International Cruise Terminal at Green Gate in Mumbai. During the raid, NCB had seized 13 grams of cocaine, five grams of mephedrone, 21 grams of marijuana, 22 pills of MDMA (Ecstasy), and ₹1.33 lakh in cash, according to reports.
