'Three people were let off': NCP's Nawab Malik claims BJP influenced Mumbai drug bust

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Saturday alleged that the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) let off three people in the cruise ship drug haul case, alleging the involvement of the BJP. Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan was among those arrested in the high-profile rave party bust. "After raid on the cruise ship off Mumbai coast, NCB's Sameer Wankhede had said that 8-10 people were detained. But, the truth is that 11 people were detained. Later, three people—Rishabh Sachdeva, Prateek Gaba and Amir Furniturewala—were released," he alleged, reported news agency ANI. "On whose directions did the NCB release the three people? We think there might have been some talk between Wankhede and BJP leaders," he said. 

Malik had yesterday alleged that the NCB had let off two persons after the raid, with one of them being the brother-in-law of a "high-profile" BJP leader. Targeting Wankhede, he had also raised questions on the conduct of the agency's officials. The allegations by the Sharad Pawar-led NCP against the NCB, a central agency, came a day after the I-T department raided the premises of commercial entities linked to its party leader and state Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. Malik had dubbed the NCB's October 2 raid on the cruise ship as "fake" and alleged that no narcotic drugs were found.  

Pravin Darekar, who is the leader of opposition from the BJP, had said it was improper to raise doubts against the agencies like the NCB, which is involved in curbing the menace of drugs. "He [Malik] is making only political statements. The claims made by Malik are baseless. If he has any proof then he should give inputs to the investigating agency," he said. "Nawab Malik and NCB's relation is well-known. I don't want to talk about his son-in-law. Whenever he [Malik] gets a chance, he tries to vent out his anger against the NCB. The NCB has very clearly clarified its stand," the BJP leader added.

-Inputs from PTI