Binodon Desk:

India’s anti-narcotics agency has sought at least three more months from a special court to file a chargesheet against Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan in the drugs-on-cruise case.

In its plea, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Wednesday sought more time to prepare the chargesheet, attributing the delay to the prime witness in the case turning hostile. It was supposed to file the chargesheet by April 2.

Aryan and his two friends — Arbaz Merchant and Mummun Dhamecha — were arrested by the NCB on October 3 last year in connection with a rave party the federal agency busted on board a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast a day before.

The 23-year-old secured bail from the High Court in Mumbai on October 28 and walked out of the high-security Arthur Road jail two days later, some four weeks after his arrest.

In fact, on the evening of October 2, some 30 NCB sleuths, disguised as passengers, boarded luxury cruise liner ‘Empress’ which departed Mumbai port for the neighbouring state of Goa.

The cruise ship was carrying mostly celebrities from Bollywood and the fashion industry. As soon as the rave party began, the NCB sleuths swung into action and claimed to have caught red-handed those having drugs.

Aryan, his two friends, and seven others were soon detained. While two of the detainees were freed after questioning, the NCB sleuths placed Aryan and seven others under arrest.

Aryan’s father Shah Rukh is considered the most talented Bollywood star. Popularly called “King Khan”, he has acted in over 80 films in a career spanning over 25 years. And he has a net worth of USD 700 million.