Table of Contents
What has happened?
- Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Sunday at around 2pm.
- Aryan has been arrested under Section 8C, 20B, 27 read with
- 35 of the NDPS Act.
- Early on Sunday, it was reported that Aryan Khan, along with seven others, was detained for interrogation.
- In the afternoon, it was confirmed that Aryan Khan was booked in connection with the rave party case,
- From where 13 gm cocaine, 21 gm charas, 22 pills of MDMA (ecstacy), 5 gm MD, and ₹1.33 lakh in cash were recovered.
Why did NCB raid the cruise ship?
- During the questioning of some drug peddlers, NCB officials said, they came to know that some people taking the cruise to Goa will be carrying drugs with them.
- Based on this tip, around 20 NCB officials booked tickets and boarded the cruise, Ship Cordelia, disguised as passengers.
- They waited till the time those on board allegedly started using narcotics and caught them red-handed.
- The captain of the ship was then asked to take the cruise back to the international cruise terminal at Ballard Pier in south Mumbai.
- Those held were taken to the NCB office nearby.
- An FIR has been registered in the case and NCB officials conducted blood tests.
How were the drugs smuggled on board?
- Based on the investigation so far, some passengers got special pockets sewn to their clothes to allegedly evade security checks and smuggle the drugs aboard.
- One of those held allegedly hid the drugs in the heel of his shoe, a source said.
Who is responsible for security?
- The passenger entry for cruise ships is through the Green Gate at Ballard Pier.
- The security at the gates is manned by the CISF and Bombay Port Trust.
- Executives of Waterways Leisure Tourism, which owns Cordelia, cannot carry out searches on passengers and it was the responsibility of the security forces to check passengers before being allowed onto the ship.
- A “welcome’ brief that was sent to passengers detailing the program on the ship and the dos and don’ts also stated that narcotics are not allowed aboard.
What is the punishment under NDPS act?
- Section 8(c) of The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 prohibits
- “Produce, manufacture, possess, sell, purchase, transport, warehouse, use, consume, import inter-State, export inter-State, import into India, export from India or tranship
- any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance.”
- The act says the punishment for this can be rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or a penalty, or both if the amount of seized drugs is small.
- If the quantity is lesser than commercial quantity but greater than small quantity, punishment can extend up to ten years with a fine which may extend to one lakh rupee. The section brought against Aryan falls under this category.
- If the quantity is commercial, then the punishment may include rigorous imprisonment for a term not less than 10 years and can extend to 20 years.
Are ships licensed to hold events and parties?
- Cruise ships must get a licence for their operations.
- Director-General of Shipping Amitabh Kumar told that Cordelia did not have a licence.
- “This cruise ship Cordelia is not licensed under the Merchant Shipping Act. The operators had applied for the licence. There were some deficiencies and the licence was not given,” he said.
- On being asked whether the ship was operating without a licence, Jurgen Bailom, CEO of Cordelia and President of Waterways Leisure Tourism Pvt Ltd, responded with this statement:
- “By means of this statement, I wish to express that Cordelia Cruises is in no way, directly or indirectly, connected to this incident. Cordelia Cruises had chartered its ship for a private event to a Delhi-based event management company.
- Cordelia Cruises is extremely mindful of providing wholesome entertainment to families who choose to travel with us. This incident is contrarian and far from the culture that Cordelia Cruises represents.”
NCB’s statement
- “It is not the job of NCB to find out from which industry and who are joining. Who is the son of an industrialist, who is the son of a film star, this is not our work.
- Our job is to take action on an equal scale and we are taking action on the same scale and this action will continue in the future also.
- Whoever is found involved in this network, irrespective of the industry they belong to, we will take action,” NCB chief SN Pradhan told.
Q) What is a liquid obtained by fermentation of carbohydrates by yeast or by distillation?
- Soda
- Carbonated water
- Hydrogen Peroxide
- Alcohol
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