Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale on Sunday advised Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan to send son Aryan Khan, who is arrested in a drugs-on-cruise case, to a rehabilitation centre.
"It is not good to take drugs at a young age. Aryan Khan has a future ahead. I advise Shah Rukh Khan to send Aryan Khan to a de-addiction rehabilitation centre associated with the ministry. He should be there for 1-2 months instead of keeping him in jail. There are a lot of such centres across the country. In 1-2 months, he will be cured of drug addiction," the Union Minister told ANI.
He also said that as per his ministry a new law should be formulated under which the accused should not be sent to jail.
Athawale further lauded Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede for his investigation into the cruise drugs case and said, "At least 5-6 times, the court has received a bail petition but was rejected. This shows that NCB has full approval and it is wrong to say that his arrest is unlawful," he said.
An NCB team busted an alleged drugs party on the Cordelia Cruise ship which was on its way to Goa at mid-sea on October 2. Aryan Khan and some others were arrested by NCB on October 3. A total of 20 people, including two Nigerian nationals, have been arrested so far in the case.
Following Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik's claim that Wankhede visited Dubai to extort money, Athawale said, "Nawab Malik is attempting character assassination of Sameer Wankhede. I request Nawab Malik to not falsely accuse someone." Nawab Malik has alleged that Wankhede extorted money from the film industry persons in Maldives and Dubai.
Wankhede on Sunday wrote a letter to Mumbai Police Commissioner requesting him to "ensure that no precipitate legal action is carried out to frame me with ulterior motives." "During COVID, the entire (film) industry was in the Maldives... The officer and his family were also there. Sameer Wankhede has to explain about his visit to Dubai and Maldives. We are sure that this 'ugahi' (extortion) happened in Maldives and Dubai. I will give you photos soon," the Nationalist Congress Party leader told reporters.
Meanwhile, Deputy Director-General of NCB Mutha Ashok Jain has denied the allegations on Wankhede and said that there was no application from the agency's zonal director for going to Dubai.
Narcotics Control Bureau in an official statement said, "Sameer Wankhede, IRS joined NCB on loan basis on August 31, 2020 and after this, he has not submitted any application for Ex-lndia leave to Dubai. As per the approval of Competent Authority, the officer has availed Ex-lndia leave along with his family to Maldives." Notably, Nawab Malik's son-in-law Sameer Khan was earlier arrested on January 13 this year by NCB in connection with a drug case.
Sameer Khan was granted bail on September 27, after eight months in prison.
