The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has been facing a backlash and questions for the involvement of two civilians in the raid of a Mumbai cruise ship on October 2. Bollywood actor, Shahrukh Khan’s son, Aryan Khan and his friend Arbaaz Merchant have been arrested in the same case.
One of the two civilians, SK Gosavi’s selfie with the star kid in the NCB office, went viral on the internet with questions raised on his role. As per his social media profile, Gosavi is a private detective. In another video, Arbaaz was seen being escorted by two men, one of them, Manish Bhanushali, had been spotted at different locations with the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) and had also reportedly contested and lost municipality elections in Dombivali, 2018.
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) spokesperson and Maharashtra minority affair minister, Nawab Malik, called out the NCB and the BJP stating, “The drama was fake, They did not find drugs on the ship”.
Malik stated, “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…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.”
Speaking at a press conference he questioned the role of the two men. “If these two men are not officials of the NCB, then why were they escorting two high-profile people,” he asked. The NCP spokesperson further stated, “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.” He then asked the BJP to come clean about their acts.
The NCB has denied the allegations and speculations regarding the identities of the duo and said that they were witnesses in the case. Gosavi’s picture with Aryan Khan raised suspicion as netizens pointed out that NCB officials are not supposed to click pictures during interrogations.
Bhanushali in an interview with India Today stated that he is a “loyal BJP worker“. Upon being asked about his role in the arrest of the people involved in the cruise party, he mentioned that he had received a Whatsapp message from a friend on October 2, after which he went to the NCB office to share the same.