Aryan Khan Case: Anti-Drugs Officer Alleges He’s Being Spied On, Say Sources

A top officer of the anti-drugs agency Narcotics Control Bureau, who is investigating the case in which megastar Shah Rukh Khan’s son has been arrested, has alleged that he is being spied on, sources in the agency said.

NCB zonal director Samir Wankhede spearheaded the raid on the cruise ship off Mumbai coast earlier this month, leading to the arrest of Aryan Khan.

Sources in the agency said Mr Wankhede and senior officer Mutha Jain have met the Maharashtra police chief to complain about the monitoring. The officer has complained that he has come to know that some people were “tracking his movements”, NCB sources said.

Agency sources said they found out that two persons, claiming to be police officers, accessed CCTV footage from a cemetery Mr Wangkhede visits regularly as his mother is buried there.

Mr Wankhede has refused to comment on the issue, saying the matter is “very serious”.

For a third time, Aryan Khan was refused bail, with the agency contending that he has to be questioned with the other accused to track the international drug cartel that is involved in the matter.

Aryan Khan, his friend Arbaaz Merchant, and six others were arrested last week. The agency did not find any drugs on Aryan Khan, but said his WhatsApp chats were incriminating.

The arrest of Aryan Khan is now snowballing into a political issue, with leaders of Maharashtra’s ruling alliance questioning the agency’s handling of the case.

Last week, Nawab Malik, a senior leader of the Nationalist Congress Party, said the man who took a viral selfie with Aryan Khan after his detention is a private investigator, KP Gosavi, and questioned how outsiders were allowed in an operation conducted by a central agency.

Mr Malik also said Manish Bhanushali, a senior leader of the BJP, was also seen in visuals of the raids. This, he said, proved a BJP hand in “maligning Maharashtra with a fake drug bust”.

Both Manish Bhanushali and the agency have denied the allegations. “The BJP has nothing to do with it (the arrests). I received information on October 1 that a drugs party was to be held. I was with the NCB officers (at the ship) for more information,” Mr Bhanushali was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

The anti-drugs agency has named both the men as “independent witnesses” to the raids. Calling the allegations “baseless”, agency officer Gyaneshwar Singh said “The NCB reiterates its procedure has been and continues to be legally and professionally transparent and unbiased”.