Cruise drugs case: Delhi SIT of NCB quizzes Arbaaz Merchant, Achit Kumar for over 9 hours

PTI, Nov 8, 2021, 8:38 AM IST

Image credit: ANI

Mumbai: The Delhi SIT of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Sunday questioned Arbaaz Merchant and Achit Kumar in connection with the drugs on cruise case for over nine hours, an official said.

The duo was summoned by the Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by senior officer Sanjay Kumar Singh, which was entrusted with the investigation of six cases, including the cruise drugs case involving Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan.

Merchant and Kumar arrived at the NCB office in south Mumbai separately around 11:30 AM-12 noon. They were allowed to go after 9 PM, he said. Aryan Khan, however, failed to appear before the SIT citing fever, another official said. It is a routine procedure to summon the accused after a new investigation team takes charge, the official said.

Merchant and Kumar, arrested last month, are currently out on bail. The NCB had arrested Aryan Khan and at least 19 others in the cruise drugs case last month.

The anti-drug agency’s Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede has been facing a departmental vigilance probe after an independent witness, in this case, alleged an extortion bid by those involved in the investigation. Aryan Khan was released on bail on October 30.

In its order, the high court had said that Aryan Khan, Merchant, and Munmun Dhamecha, his co-accused who were also released on bail, will have to surrender their passports before the NDPS court and shall not leave India without taking permission from the special court. Besides, they have to attend the NCB office each Friday between 11 am and 2 pm to mark their presence.