Guwahati: Mumbai cruise drugs bust suspect Aryan Khan admitted to consuming charas (cannabis) and his friend Arbaaz Merchant was carrying six grams of the banned narcotic with him so they could “have a blast” on the luxury liner, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) panchnama exclusively accessed by India Today reveals.
The panchnama, which is a record of the witness taken at the time of conducting a search, was recorded when the NCB team approached Aryan Khan and Arbaaz Merchant while conducting raids on board the Cordelia cruise liner off the coast of Mumbai after receiving tip-off that party drugs were being used on the ship.
According to the panchnama, NCB officer Ashish Rajan Prasad explained the provisions of Section 50 of the NDPS Act to them. The anti-drugs agency also offered to search Aryan Khan and Arbaaz Merchant before gazetted officers, but the two young men declined.
The investigating officer then asked Aryan Khan and Arbaaz Merchant if they are in possession of any narcotic substance, to which Arbaaz replied yes, mentioning he has charas hidden away inside his shoe.
Arbaaz Merchant voluntarily took out a ziplock bag containing a “black, sticky substance” from his shoe, and the substance was tested with DD kit and confirmed to be charas. Total six grams of charas was recovered from him.
On asking Aryan Khan, he also admitted to consuming charas and corroborated that they had been planning to use the drug seized from Arbaaz Merchant while aboard the cruise liner.
The panchnama was recorded in the presence of two panchas — namely, Kiran Gosavi and Prabhakar Roghoji Sen. Kiran Gosavi identifies as a private detective and was seen in a viral selfie with Aryan Khan clicked at the Mumbai International Cruise Terminal last Sunday, prior to the star kid’s arrest.
According to documents accessed exclusively by India Today, Gosavi had furnished different addresses in two separate panchnamas. He is already in a spot after Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik raised questions over his presence as a private party during the arrests.
India Today has accessed two separate panchanamas. One is that of Aryan Khan, Arbaaz Merchant and others, while the second panchanma is that of Munmum Dhamecha and others. Kiran Gosavi is mentioned as panch in both.
Drugs bust case co-accused Ishmeet Singh and Vikrant Kocchar were also mentioned in the panchnama. The two were approached by the NCB at the departure gate at around 4.30 pm on Sunday and had admitted to carrying narcotics.
On Friday, a Mumbai court rejected the bail plea of Aryan Khan, who was detained by the NCB in connection with the alleged seizure of drugs from a Goa-bound cruise ship off the Mumbai coast.
Earlier, he and seven other accused in the case, including his friend Arbaaz Merhcant, were remanded in 14-day judicial custody by Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate RM Nerlikar. The court had rejected the NCB’s plea for their further custody for interrogation.
(Source – India Today)
