The Narcotics Control Bureau raided actor Ananya Panday’s home in Mumbai on Thursday, reported India Today. Later in the day, the actor was questioned for two hours at the anti-drug agency’s office.
The Narcotics Control Bureau has seized Panday’s laptop and mobile phone and asked her to appear for questioning again on Friday at 11 am, according to NDTV.
The agency visited the Mumbai home of actor Shah Rukh Khan too, hours after he met his son Aryan Khan at the Arthur Road Prison. Aryan Khan is lodged in the prison in a drugs case.
Narcotics Control Bureau Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede clarified that the agency did not raid Shah Rukh Khan’s home, reported ANI. He claimed that the team went there to collect some documents related to Aryan Khan.
The raid at Panday’s home was purportedly based on some WhatsApp chats between her and Aryan Khan, according to The Indian Express.
Aryan Khan’s arrest
Aryan Khan and seven others had been detained by the Narcotics Control Bureau after a raid on 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.
Khan was initially remanded to the custody of the anti-drugs agency, but was sent to judicial custody for 14 days on October 7.
On Wednesday, a special court in Mumbai had denied him bail. Following this, Khan’s lawyers approached the High Court, which will hear the bail petition on October 26.
Khan’s lawyers have repeatedly argued before courts that no drugs were found in his possession.
On Wednesday, Judge VV Patil of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances court rejected this argument. He said that Khan knew that his friend Arbaaz Merchant, who has also been arrested in the case, was carrying narcotic substances in his shoes at the party.
The judge also said that Khan’s WhatsApp chats showed that he was involved in “illicit drug activities for narcotic substances on [a] regular basis”.
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