'In a joint operation carefully planned by the NCB and the Indian Navy in the high seas, NCB officials have successfully seized around 529 kg of very high quality of hashish, 234 kg of finest quality of crystal methamphetamine and some quantity of heroin,' the anti-drug agency said in a release.
Senior counsel Amit Desai, appearing for Aryan Khan, termed the NCB's contention as 'inherently absurd' and argued that when there was no recovery of drugs from him, then he should not be penalised at the stage of granting bail.
Pithani was Rajput's friend and was also staying with the late actor at his Bandra residence in suburban Mumbai, he said.
Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik on Tuesday sought to know why the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) was saving Kashif Khan, one of the organisers of the cruise party where the NCB conducted a raid last month, and what was his relationship with the anti-drugs agency officer Sameer Wankhede.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) reached Mumbai on Saturday, a day after the agency transferred investigation in six cases, including the controversial cruise drugs case in which Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan was arrested, to it.
The NCB also found some documents and some material, suspected to be drugs, after an over six-hour-long search onboard the ship, the official said, without divulging any further details.
With this, the anti-drugs agency has so far arrested 17 people in the case, including Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan, and some "high-profile organisers" belonging to a Delhi-based event management company.
Prabhakar Sail, who claims to be the bodyguard of NCB witness KP Gosavi, last month alleged in an affidavit that he had heard Gosavi discussing a Rs 25 crore pay-off deal after Aryan Khan was arrested by the NCB.
A bench of Chief Justice Bobde and Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian will hear the plea on March 18.
On legal front, Wankhede, who the NCB asserted has an impeccable service record, failed to get any relief related to an affidavit on the sensational extortion claims made by the independent witness, Prabhakar Sail, with a special court saying it cannot pass a blanket order barring courts from taking cognisance of the document.
The NCB has arrested a Goa-based man who allegedly had links with the accused in a drugs case related to actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death, an NCB official said on Monday.
The NCB has so far arrested 16 people, including Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan, 23, in the drug seizure case.
Dominic Xavier wonders what the end game in the NCB's starstruck probe will be.
A special team of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), probing allegations of extortion in the drugs-on-cruise case in which Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan is one of the accused, left for Delhi on Saturday without recording the statement of witness Prabhakar Sail, who had raised serious charges against Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede and others, an official said.
The Narcotics Control Bureau's special investigation team has found "grave irregularities" and gaps in the probe of the Mumbai drugs-on-cruise case, with officials saying its first team that arrested Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan did not follow rules like mandatory medical test of accused, video recording of the raids and corroborate evidence for WhatsApp chats.
'NCB is eager to prove its relevance.' 'But picking on Shah Rukh Khan's son seems as if he is being made the poster boy of the NCB's relevance.'
Launching a scathing attack on Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede, Maharashtra minister and Nationalist Congress Party leader Nawab Malik on Thursday dubbed the officer as 'bogus' and asserted that once 'proof' against him is out, he can not remain in government service for even one day.
The NCB, which got the remand of Aryan Khan and the other eight accused from the court till Thursday, also claimed that in the WhatsApp chats he is discussing modes of payment to be done for procurement (of drugs) and that several code names are being used.
As the NCB team reached Bhagat Singh Nagar locality in Goregaon, around 50 people, including women, gathered there and later attacked members of the central anti-narcotics agency, the official said.
Prabhakar Sail, an independent witness in the cruise drugs seizure case, on Sunday claimed that a Narcotics Control Bureau officer and some other persons demanded Rs 25 crore from Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan to release his son Aryan Khan in the case.
"Mobile phones of Deepika Padukone, Shraddha Kapoor, Sara Ali Khan, Rakul Preet Singh, Karishma Prakash, Simone Khambatta and Jaya Shah have been seized," an NCB official said.
There was heavy police deployment outside the NCB office, where barricades were put up.
Ananya Panday has been again called by the NCB on Monday, a senior NCB official said.
The NCB personnel late Saturday night carried out multiple raids in Mumbai's suburbs, including Goregaon. They also arrested one more person, identified as Shivraj Ramdas, from Santacruz area on Friday night in connection with the case of drugs seizure, the official said.
"I have nothing to do with drugs. I have prescription for the medicine which was found at my residence and the prescription has been handed over to NCB officials," Rampal told reporters.
Rakul, 29, was seen entering the NCB guest house in Colaba around 10.30 am and left after four hours.
Sleuths of the Narcotics Control Bureau visited the residence of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan on Thursday for seeking certain material related to their investigation into a cruise drugs party case in which the actor's son is an accused, a senior NCB official said.
The NCB claimed that 'incriminating' evidence comprising of digital evidence, call record details, WhatsApp chats, location tags, video and voice recordings, and several other documents had been submitted.
The anti-drugs agency had earlier arrested nine people, including Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan, after raiding the Goa-bound ship on Saturday.
The official said the NCB might also summon actors Rakul Preet Singh and Sara Ali Khan, and designer Simone Khambatta this week.
Maharashtra home minister Dilip Walse Patil on Monday said police protection has been given to Prabhakar Sail, an independent witness in the drugs-on-cruise case who has claimed Rs 25 crore was demanded by an NCB official and other persons to let off Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan in the case.
Ananya's father Chunky Panday accompanied her to the NCB office located at Ballard Estate in south Mumbai, where they reached around 4 pm.
Referring to the statement of NCP leader Nawab Malik in which he had cast aspersions on NCB, the plea said it's high time the NCB is probed by a top court judge to unravel the truth.
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Saturday questioned the driver of actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan who was arrested in connection with a drug seizure on a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast.
During the NCB's investigation into the drugs angle in actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death case, a wider drugs nexus in Bollywood surfaced. Rajput's talent manager Jaya Saha was questioned by the NCB on Monday. During her questioning, the NCB got information about many persons allegedly having an active role in the Bollywood-drug nexus, the official said.
Electronic gadgets were seized during the search at the house of the 47-year-old actor in suburban Bandra, said the central agency official. Summons was also issued to Rampal, asking him to appear before the drug law enforcement agency on November 11, he said.
NCB Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede told PTI that Firoz Nadiadwala was summoned by the anti-drugs agency earlier in the day, but he failed to appear.
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), which is probing an alleged Bollywood-drugs nexus, has summoned actors Deepika Padukone, Shraddha Kapoor, Sara Ali Khan and Rakul Preet Singh for questioning, an official said on Wednesday.
Besides Aryan Khan, the arrested accused are identified as Munmun Dhamecha, Arbaaz Merchant, Ismeet Singh, Mohak Jaswal, Gomit Chopra, Nupur Sarika, and Vikrant Chhokar.
Rhea, who was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau on Tuesday after three days of questioning, is currently in judicial custody.