Cruise Drugs Case: After 4 Weeks, Actor SRK’s son Aryan Khan Walks out of Mumbai Prison

Mumbai: Aryan Khan, son of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, walked out of the Arthur Road prison, after spending 22 days in the central Mumbai facility following his arrest during an alleged drug raid on a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast.

The 23-year-old, arrested on October 3 by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), walked out of the prison, his ‘home’ since October 8, at 11 a.m and got into a waiting car, which reached his actual home Mannat in suburban Bandra shortly after 11.30 a.m.

Half an hour before Aryan came out, his father’s bodyguard got down from a white Range Rover car waiting outside the prison and stood near the facility’s gate. He was seen speaking to policemen posted there.

The Range Rover was part of the convoy which left Mannat shortly after 8 a.m and reached a spot in near the prison around 9 a.m, where it halted to avoid a traffic jam in the area, an official said.

A large crowd of Shah Rukh Khan’s fans had gathered outside the prison since early morning. A sizeable media contingent was also present to cover Aryan’s release from the jail.

Outside the prison, fans and onlookers cheering for Shah Rukh Khan and Aryan and trying to catch a glimpse of the superstar were in for a disappointment as they could not see the actor’s face and had to assume that he was in the vehicle.

Mumbai police, as a precautionary measure to control the crowd, had increased police presence outside the prison, the official said.

Besides local police, SRPF team was also present and barricades were put up outside the Arthur Road prison, he said.

The prison officials collected Aryan’s release order from the bail letter box, which was opened at 5.30 am on Saturday.

Speaking outside the prison entrance, jail superintendent Nitin Waychal had earlier said Aryan would be released between 10 a.m to 12 noon as other prisoners would also be released along with the 23-year-old.

“The more release orders, the more time it takes to complete the formalities,” he had said.

Speaking to media persons outside the prison, father of Arbaaz Merchant, arrested along with Aryan and lodged at the same jail, said his son will be released in evening.

Aryan came out of the prison a day after a special court issued his release memo.

He was granted bail by the Bombay High Court on Thursday. Shah Rukh Khan's actor-friend Juhi Chawla stood as surety for the 23-year-old before the special court, designated to hear cases related to the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS).

The HC on Friday afternoon made available its operative order in which it imposed 14 bail conditions on Aryan Khan and his co-accused in the case, Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha, who were also granted bail, stipulating their release on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh each with one or two sureties of the same amount.

The relief to the trio came just a day before the HC was scheduled to take a two-week break for Diwali.

In the five-page order, signed by Justice N W Sambre, the high court said the trio will have to surrender their passports before the NDPS court and shall not leave India without taking permission from the special court.

Also, they will have to attend the NCB office each Friday between 11 am and 2 pm to mark their presence, the HC said.

The judge will give a detailed bail order with reasons next week.

Khan, Merchant and Dhamecha were arrested by the NCB on October 3 and booked under relevant sections of the NDPS Act for alleged possession, consumption, sale/purchase of banned drugs and conspiracy and abetment.

Their arrest came a day after the NCB allegedly raided the cruise ship and claimed to have seized banned drugs. So far, 20 people have been arrested in the case and two of them were granted bail by the special NDPS court earlier this week.

Will Expose Wankhede-BJP Links in Assembly: Nawab Malik

Continuing his tirade against NCB's Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede, Nationalist Congress Party spokesperson and Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik said on Friday he would expose some BJP leaders and their alleged connection with the officer in the winter session of the state Legislature to be held in December.

Malik has levelled a slew of allegations against Wankhede, who led the raid on a cruise ship off Mumbai coast earlier this month, in which Aryan Khan was arrested.

Talking to reporters on Friday, Malik said, "I am going to expose some BJP leaders and their connections with NCB officer Sameer Wankhede in the winter session starting from December 7. It will be a stormy session and once those names are out, the BJP leaders will not be able to show their face in public."

He alleged that Fashion TV head Kashif Khan  had organised the alleged drugs party on the Cordelia cruise ship.

Malik claimed, "Kashif Khan is notorious for distribution of drugs, for running sex and pornography racket and had posted the advertisement of Cordelia drug party on social media. Despite that the intelligent officers of the NCB did not call him for any inquiry or probe."

On his tweet, Malik said that he and Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut will have to complete this "picture" just like the famous scriptwriter duo of Salim-Javed, who wrote scripts of several blockbuster movies in Hindi in the 1970s.

When asked about how this picture is going to end, Malik said, "The picture will be over with Sameer Wankhede losing his job and facing legal action for forging documents to get recruited via reserved quota for SC category. He was born in a Muslim family, but he forged his birth certificate to get this job."