[Aryan Khan drug case] Alleged supplier found with commercial quantity moves Mumbai court for bail

Abdul Kadar Shaikh, an alleged drug supplier arrested in the cruise ship drug case, has moved a Mumbai court seeking bail in the case in which Aryan Khan, son of Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan, is the prime accused. .The 30-year-old senior executive was allegedly apprehended at a bus stop in Mumbai by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) with 54.3 grams of mephedrone and 2.5 grams of ecstasy, which is a commercial quantity. He was booked for committing offences punishable under Sections 22(b), 22(c), 27, 27A, 28, 29 and 35 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. .Shaikh claimed that he was illegally detained by the NCB for more than 24 hours before he was produced before a Magistrate's court for remand. It was his contention that he was detained on October 3 this year but was shown as arrested only on October 4, before finally being produced before the Magistrate on October 5, leading to a violation of his fundamental right to life and personal liberty. Shaikh had been in NCB custody till October 11, then been remanded to judicial custody since. .Shaikh stated in his bail plea, filed through advocate Apoorv Srivastav, that the remand applications against him did not contain any specific allegations apart from the alleged recovery. He claimed that he had never been handed over a notice under Section 50 of the NDPS Act, as claimed by the NCB..Shaikh stated that NCB got two panch witnesses in his case, one of whom as per media reports had criminal antecedents and was a habitual panch. Hence, the entire operation was questionable and suspicious, he said.He further pointed out that he had not been searched by gazetted officers, as required under the NDPS Act. He also claimed that the other panch witness was allegedly seen carrying a white-coloured bag at a time when the panchnama was being prepared, which was visible from the CCTV footage obtained from a mall nearby. It was, therefore, his case that he was being made a scapegoat as he was not involved in any criminal conspiracy or abetment to commit any offence..Out of the 20 persons arrested in the case, 18 have secured bail. Only Shaikh and foreign national, Chinedu Igwe are yet to secure bail.