No evidence has been found against Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan’s son in connection to a 2021 cruise ship drugs bust case that had made headlines in India and had kicked up a controversy after his arrest.
A special investigation team of India’s Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) found no evidence of Aryan Khan’s involvement in connection with the case, according to media reports.
Khan was apprehended in a case pertaining to the illegal possession of drugs on a cruise ship headed to Goa in October last year.
The Bollywood star kid, along with two others present at a party on the ship, was arrested after 20 members of the NCB entered the ship disguised as customers.
At least 13 grams of cocaine, five grams of mephedrone (MD), 21 grams of cannabis, 22 pills of ecstasy and cash worth Rs 133,000 (£1,316) was recovered from the eight people held by authorities.
In a hearing seeking Khan’s custody in Mumbai, narcotics officials said the Om Shanti Om actor’s son was linked to an international drugs cartel and sought to investigate this further.
The NCB had also dug up Khan’s old chats and took his phone as part of the investigation last year.
On the other hand, Khan’s attorney Satish Manshinde told the court that no drugs were recovered from the Bollywood superstar’s son, as he had merely gone to the cruise party after receiving an invite.
The lawyer also argued that Khan was made a scapegoat and his bag was searched but nothing was found.
Khan was finally granted bail after spending 22 days behind bars in Mumbai’s Arthur Road jail.
In the most recent update, Hindustan Times reported that the NCB had not only failed to find any evidence of Khan’s involvement in the drug arrest, but had also found several irregularities in the raid on the luxury cruise.
An officer told the outlet that Khan “wasn’t in possession of drugs, so there was no need to take his phone and check the chats.”
He added that NCB’s raid wasn’t video recorded as per their manual either.
Another official revealed that the probe was not over and that it might take a couple of months for the final report to be submitted to NCB Director-General SN Pradhan.
The Independent has contacted the NCB for comment. Khan wasn’t immediately available for comment.
