Nawab Malik said the arrests in drugs-on-cruise case were made just on the basis of WhatsApp chats.

Mumbai:

The BJP and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) are spreading “terrorism” in Mumbai, NCP leader and Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik alleged on Wednesday as he continued his tirade against the central agency and its top officer Sameer Wankhede.

Mr Malik renewed his demand to check WhatsApp chats of the central agency’s Zonal Director Wankhede, who supervised the raid on a cruise liner off the Mumbai coast earlier this month that led to the alleged recovery of drugs, saying it will reveal how “bogus” the NCB cases are.

He claimed the case related to the alleged recovery of banned drugs from the ship was “fake” and arrests were made just on the basis of WhatsApp chats.

The minister said due process was not followed after the raid on the ship, a case in which Aryan Khan, the jailed son of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, was among the accused.

Mr Malik alleged the NCB is being used to defame the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in the state and said he will furnish proof to back his claim next week. The NCP is a key constituent in the Shiv Sena-led MVA government.

“The BJP, the NCB and some criminals are spreading terrorism in Mumbai,” said Mr Malik, chief spokesperson of his party.

The veteran politician has been at the forefront in launching attacks on the NCB since Aryan Khan was arrested in the drugs case.

Mr Malik’s son-in-law Sameer Khan, too, was arrested by the NCB in a drugs case earlier this year. He has been released on bail.

Last week, NCP president Sharad Pawar had lashed out at the Centre, accusing it of using the drug law enforcement agency, the Enforcement Directorate, the CBI and the Income Tax Department to target political parties opposed to the BJP.

Malik reiterated his demand to check WhatsApp chats of Wankhede. He said if Mr Wankhede’s phone recordings are released, it will prove how “bogus” the NCB cases are.

In the past, whenever there was a raid on a rave party, blood and urine samples of those apprehended was collected and released. If the samples suggested any intake of narcotics substances, accused would be arrested, he said.

Neither blood nor urine samples were collected from those arrested during the raid on the ship earlier this month. The NCB did not take blood and urine samples as the entire case was “fake”, the minister alleged.

Mr Malik said the arrests in the drugs-on-cruise case were made just on the basis of WhatsApp chats.

A special court on Wednesday denied bail to Aryan Khan, observing that “on the face of it”, he was found indulging in “illicit drug activities on a regular basis”.

His WhatsApp chats also showed, prima facie, that he was in touch with drug peddlers, the court noted.