NCP says raid on cruise ship was fake, NCB says all legal procedures were followed

The NCB, in a press meet on October 6, detailed the drugs it allegedly seized and said that rule of law was followed during the raid on the cruise and the subsequent ones.
Cordelia cruises ship
Cordelia cruises ship
Written by:

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) alleged on Wednesday that the NCB's raid on a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast on October 2 was fake, and no narcotic drugs were found during it. The party also questioned the presence of two persons along with the NCB team during the raid, and alleged that one of them was a BJP member. The BJP's reaction was not available immediately.

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has so far arrested 17 people, including Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan, after allegedly seizing drugs from the Goa-bound ship on Saturday. “The drama (the raid) was fake. They did not find drugs on the ship,” NCP spokesperson and Maharashtra Minorities Affairs Minister Nawab Malik claimed here.

He also released a few videos, purportedly of the raid. A man who is seen escorting Aryan Khan in one of the videos was not an NCB official, and his social media profile states that he is a private detective based in Kuala Lumpur, the NCP leader alleged. Further, two men are seen escorting Arbaaz Merchant, also arrested in the case, in another video, and one of them is a member of the BJP, Malik alleged. “If these two men are not officials of the NCB, then why were they escorting two high-profile people (Khan and Merchant)," he asked.

The man seen with Merchant was in Gujarat on September 21-22 and could be connected to the seizure of about 3,000 kilograms of heroin at Mundra Port, Malik claimed, asking the BJP to come clear on this person's credentials.

"The entire NCB is being used by the BJP to malign people, the Maharashtra government and Bollywood," Malik said, alleging that the anti-drug agency was targeting those who are against the saffron party. Notably, Malik's son-in-law Sameer Khan had been arrested by the NCB on January 13, 2021, in an alleged drug case. He got bail in September.

However, the NCB, in a press meet on Wednesday, October 6, detailed the drugs it allegedly seized during the raid and said that rule of law was followed during the raid on the cruise and the subsequent raids. The NCB said that it seized various drugs like cocaine, mefedron, charas, hydroponic weed, MDMA and cash worth Rs 1.33 lakh from the cruise. It also detailed the subsequent raids that happened in Mumbai resulting in arrests of people including Abdul Kadir Sheikh and Shreyas Sundar Nair, among others, also for possessing banned drugs. 

“In total, four follow up seizures have been affected after the seizure from the cruise by following all due procedures as per rule and law. Investigation of the case is in progress. Some allegations levelled against the organisation are baseless and seem to have been with malice and probable prejudice that may have been harboured in retaliation against earlier legal action carried out by NCB. NCB reiterates that its procedure has been and will continue to be professionally and legally transparent and unbiased,” the NCB said in the press meet.  

(With PTI inputs)

Related Stories

No stories found.
The News Minute
www.thenewsminute.com