Mumbai cruise drugs case: Special NDPS court grants bail to two accused persons
Manish Rajgaria and Avin Sahu are the first ones to get relief in the case.
A special Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances court in Mumbai on Tuesday granted bail to two persons accused in the Mumbai cruise ship drug case, PTI reported.
The two accused persons, Manish Rajgaria and Avin Sahu, are the first ones to get bail in the case. Apart from Rajgaria and Sahu, the anti-drugs agency has arrested 18 other people. One of them is Aryan Khan, the son of actor Shah Rukh Khan.
The Narcotics Control Bureau has alleged that Rajgaria was in possession of 2.4 grams of marijuana, according to Live Law. It has claimed that Sahu has admitted to having consumed drugs twice on the ship.
Rajgaria’s lawyer Taraq Sayed said that the drugs shown in his possession had been handed over to the Narcotics Control Bureau by the cruise ship’s security officials. He added that the recoveries made in this case were separate from the rest of the drugs seized in the case.
Sahu’s lawyer Sana Khan argued that the anti-drugs agency did not conduct a blood test to find out if he actually consumed drugs. She said that his statement to the NCB in which he allegedly admitted to consuming drugs was not admissible as evidence.
On the other hand, the Narcotics Control Bureau alleged a “common thread and conspiracy” and alleged that the accused persons were inextricably connected to each other.
The case
The Narcotics Control Bureau had raided a cruise party off the coast of Mumbai on October 2. The agency claimed to have seized 13 grams of cocaine, 5 grams of mephedrone, 21 grams of charas, 22 pills of MDMA (ecstasy) and Rs 1.3 lakh from the ship.
Aryan Khan has been in custody since October 8. A Mumbai court had on October 21 extended his judicial custody till October 30. However, the court had said that the extension in custody will not affect the hearing of his bail plea in the High Court.
His lawyers have argued that no drugs were found in his possession during the raid.
However, on October 20, judge VV Patil of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances court had rejected this argument. He said that Aryan Khan knew that co-accused Arbaaz Merchant was carrying narcotic substances in his shoes at the party.