By Raza Hasnain Naqvi
The Bombay High Court’s detailed bail order in the Aryan Khan drug case has made a dent in the reputation of the Narcotics Control Bureau. The NCB has to prove to the Indian public that its officials are honest, law-abiding citizens who are hunting and arresting masterminds behind drug deployment in India and not simply indulging in extortion of the common man and celebrities.
Aryan Khan, son of Bollywood film star Shah Rukh Khan was the top trending topic the whole of October 2021. He was a hot topic because he was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on October 3, 2021, during a raid that was conducted on a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast. The raid was led by the Mumbai unit of NCB headed by the controversial Zonal director Sameer Wankhede.
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Aryan was arrested on drug consumption, trafficking and conspiracy charges and remained in custody and in Arthur Road jail in Mumbai for 26 days. He was granted bail on Oct 28, 2021, and managed to walk out of jail only on Oct 30, 2021.
On the evening of November 20, 2021, the detailed bail order of the Mumbai High court in the Aryan Khan case was released. Details in this bail order refute the charges made by the NCB against Aryan Khan. The order also gives credence to the theory that Aryan’s arrest and related events resemble close to an internet phishing scam.
What’s a Phishing Scam
The word ‘phishing’ in phishing scams comes from the word fishing. While fishing, bait is held out in the water that fishes can bite and then get caught by the hidden hook.
In the same manner, during an online phishing scam that comes in the category of cybercrime, cybercriminals send out emails to their targets disguised as genuine emails from genuine companies.
The objective of such a cyber bait sent in the online ocean of emails is to snag the bank account details and online profile identities, usernames and passwords of consumers. This information is then used for identity theft and stealing money from bank accounts.
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Aryan is the Bait
The Aryan Khan Mumbai cruise drug case closely resembles an offline phishing scam. Based on the facts that have come out in the details of the Bombay High Court bail order in this case and subsequent events related to witnesses in this case including NCB Zonal director Sameer Wankhede, it seems clear that Aryan Khan was the bait.
Witness Alleges Money Demand
Independent witness in the Aryan case, Prabhakar Sail has made allegations in his affidavit that he overheard KP Gosavi who is another witness in this case, talking about a demand of Rs 25 crore to let go Aryan. He said that the settlement would be for Rs 18 crore, out of which Rs 8 crore would be given to Sameer Wankhede. Sail is now under the protection of the Maharashtra government.
Incidentally, it was KP Gosavi’s viral selfie with Aryan Khan on social media when Aryan was under NCB detention that opened the floodgates on queries and bribe and extortion allegations against the NCB’s zonal director Sameer Wankhede.
What does the Bombay High Court Order Say?
Here are some statements made in the Bombay HC bail order in the Aryan Khan drug case.
- “There is hardly any positive evidence on record to convince this Court that all the accused persons with common intention agreed to commit unlawful act.”
- “Merely because Aryan Khan, Arbaaz Merchant, and Munmun Dhamecha were travelling in the same cruise, that by itself cannot be a foundation for the charge of conspiracy against them.”
- “Having regard to the material brought on record by the Respondent (NCB) on the issue of conspiracy, this court prima facie has not noticed any positive evidence against the Applicants on the said issue. This court is of the opinion that the claim put forth by the Respondent that Applicants should be considered to have intention to commit an offence under the NDPS Act, having found in possession of commercial quantity, in the backdrop of case of hatching conspiracy is liable to be rejected.”
- “After having gone through the Whats-App chats extracted from Applicant/Accused no. 1’s(Khan) phone, nothing objectionable could be noticed to suggest that Applicant nos. 1 & 2(Arbaaz Merchant) or all three applicants alongwith other Accused persons in agreement have meeting of minds and have hatched conspiracy committing the offence in question.”
Nawab Malik on the HC Order
Cabinet minister in Maharashtra government Nawab Malik has been vocal since October 2021 in the Aryan case. He has been regularly coming out on social media with comments, letters and photographs that he alleges show that NCB official Sameer Wankhede is deeply involved in extortion and bribery in the Aryan case and many other drug-related cases.
Malik’s Tweets
After the Bombay HC bail order on Aryan, Nawab Malik made a series of tweets on November 20, 2021 stating:
“The high court verdict on the #AryanKhan case clearly states there was no evidence of conspiracy. It has indeed been proven that it was a #Farziwada by Sameer Dawood Wankhede. It was a case of kidnapping, extortion and due to a selfie leak, the plan has been failed.”
In another tweet the same day he stated:
“High Court order proves that the #AryanKhan case was a case of Kidnapping and Ransom. It was pre planned but a selfie released in public domain failed the plan. The Farjiwada now stands exposed.”
In an attachment with this tweet, he stated:
Pointers from Aryan’s Order Copy
No criminal evidence against the accused
No material evidence to connect Aaryan’s WhatsApp chats
Aryan was not found in any possession of any objectionable substance
Munmun and Arbaz were found with substance. Both of them had small quantities of drugs
There was no meeting of minds in this case
Munmun has no previous connection with Aryan and Arbaz
After accessing Aryan’s chats, it was found there was no conspiracy
There is hardly any evidence that there was conspiracy to commit a crime.
Current State of Sameer Wankhede
The NCB has formed a 15-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the extortion and corruption allegations made against Wankhede. Six cases that were under Wankhede including the Aryan case have been transferred by the NCB HQ in Delhi from Wankhede to the SIT.
Wankhede continues to be the head of NCB Mumbai Zone. Bombay HC has directed the Mumbai police to give Wankhede 3-days notice before making any move to arrest him.
Just a Thought
What does it mean when the Bombay HC bail order shows that the court is not convinced by the charges and arguments levelled by the NCB against Aryan Khan?
There is also a hint of politics in this Aryan case as the name of Manish Bhanushali has also come up as being one of the independent witnesses in the Aryan cruise raid case. Bhanushali has stated in media that he is a BJP leader and an informer in this case.
There has always been a lot of ho-halla in TV channels as soon as there is news of someone in the Mumbai film industry being detained/arrested for drug possession. In light of allegations made against Wankhede, the NCB and its SIT has a serious responsibility now to prove to the public that its officials are doing their duty honestly and not indulging in any wrong-doing.