Cruise Ship Drug Case -Mumbai Court Remands Four Fresh Arrestees To NCB Custody Till October 14

Four new arrestees in the Cruise Ship Drug Case were remanded to Narcotics Control Bureau's custody till October 14 after the court rejected their pleas for release where they alleged illegal detention. So far 16 people who have been arrested in the case, including Aryan Khan are in NCB's custody. The NCB claimed the fresh arrestees are event organizers of the party on October 2, but the accused said they were merely entertainment contractors. Alleging that they were detained since October 4 but produced only two days later, on Wednesday, they accused NCB of keeping them in illegal custody. The accused also claimed that their blood samples were not collected by the NCB for testing despite their request. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate observed the time of their arrest dated October 5 and rejected their applications. "Custody of the accused before the NCB is necessary to go to the root of the case... Remanded to NCB custody till October 14," the court observed. The fresh arrestees are Directors of the company Kin Plus Private Limited - Samir Sehgal and Bhaskar Arora, and two others Manav Singhal and Gopal Anand. They are charged under Sections 25 (Allowing premises, etc., to be used for commission of an offence), 27A (financing illicit traffic and harbouring offenders), 28 and 29 of the NDPS Act. Special Public Prosecutor Advait Sethna argued that NCB had asked the organisers not to allow the ship to sail after the raid on October 2, but it sailed. The ship was then raided again on arrival from Goa on October 4. "It is necessary to find out the connection and nexus with the accused. ..How or if people were allowed to board without passes. We had asked the ship not to sail but they went ahead and sailed. Now the ship was raided again after it returned and seizures have been made." Advocate Harsh Ghangurde for the accused argued that NCB interrogated them after the ship docked on October 4, at 7 am. After interrogation at 12.30 pm, they were taken to the NCB office against his wishes. The accused were then shown arrested yesterday and produced before the court today. Sethna opposed the application. He said the accused from Delhi stayed back on their own, and no illegal arrest was made. "The time of the arrest is there in the memo. They chose not to go back to Delhi and stayed. A notice was sent to them and they joined the investigation. There is no merit in charge for illegal arrest."

Cruise Ship Drug Case -Mumbai Court Remands Four Fresh Arrestees To NCB Custody Till October 14

Sharmeen Hakim

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