Drugs-on-cruise case: NCB hints at use of darknet in drugs transaction

The Narcotics Control Bureau on Saturday hinted at the use of darknet in drugs transaction in connection with the case linked to Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan, news agency PTI reported.

However, the agency did not say anything about Aryan Khan’s link with this new finding. Dark net is clandestine internet portal which can only be accessed with specific software, configurations etc. This is not the first time that NCB has referred to darknet as soon after the raid of the cruise, NCB officials mentioned darknet and bitcoins. But now the agency has claimed how the darknet has been used.

Talking to PTI, an NCB official said the agency seized hydropnic weed from the accused, the number of which is now 20. This weed was procured through dark net, the news agency reported citing an NCB official.

The NCB had allegedly found MDMA from some of the accused during the raid. This drug is mostly sourced from Europe and the United States, and the agency is now probing from where the accused obtained it, the official said to PTI.

Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan was not found with drugs though the NCB is accusing him of being a part of a bigger network. After eight people, including Aryan, were arrested on October 3, the agency conducted several raid — some based on what the arrested told them, and arrested another 12 people in one month.

Among the arrested, there is Achit Kumar, who recently told the court referring him as ‘peddler’ is harming his future. His lawyer told the court that he studies in a university in London and in India because of the pandemic. His bail plea has also been opposed by the NCB which on Saturday told the court that the agency is not ‘loosely’ calling him a peddler; it has some evidence, NCB said.