Conflicting reports surface about Aryan Khan’s drug case

Conflicting reports surfaced about Indian cinema’s celebrity son Aryan Khan on Wednesday with claims that an inquiry into his alleged rave party aboard a luxury yacht off Mumbai in October last year had found nothing to implicate him, and a denial was swiftly issued through a pro-government news agency.

With no clear statement from either side, the story appears to have been reheated to make or mar the announcement on Wedne­sday of a new film by Aryan’s movie star father Shahrukh Khan. The film Pathan is now scheduled to be released next year.

The first report in the Times of India said the special investigation team of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) had reportedly found ‘no evidence’ to prove that Aryan Khan was a part of any international drugs trafficking syndicate.

It quoted reports as suggesting several irregularities in the NCB’s raid on the yacht Cordelia last October.

The report quoted alleged key findings saying there was no need to take Aryan’s phone and check his chats as he was “never in possession of drugs”.

Originally published in Dawn, March 3, 2022