Union minister of state for social justice and empowerment Ramdas Athawale has advised Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan to send his son Aryan Khan, who has been arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in connection with the drugs-on-cruise case, to a rehabilitation centre.

“It is not good to take drugs at a young age. Aryan Khan has a future ahead. I advise Shah Rukh Khan to send Aryan Khan to a de-addiction rehabilitation centre associated with the ministry,” Athawale told ANI on Sunday.

“He should be there for one to two months instead of keeping him in jail. There are a lot of such centres across the country. In one to two months, he will be cured of drug addiction,” he added.

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The Union minister also said that a new law should be formulated under which the accused should not be sent to jail.

Athawale also praised the NCB’s zonal director Sameer Wankhede for his investigation into the cruise drugs case. “The court has received a bail petition at least five to six times but was rejected. This shows that NCB has full approval and it is wrong to say that his arrest is unlawful,” he said.

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Aryan Khan and some others were arrested by the NCB on October 3, a day after a team led by Sameer Wankhede busted an alleged drugs party on the cruise ship which was on its way to Goa. So far, 20 people, including two Nigerian nationals, have been arrested in the case.

Athawale also criticised Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik over his allegations against Wankhede that the NCB official extorted money from people from the film industry in Maldives and Dubai. “Nawab Malik is attempting character assassination of Sameer Wankhede. I request Nawab Malik to not falsely accuse someone.”

“During Covid, the entire (film) industry was in the Maldives… The officer and his family were also there. Sameer Wankhede has to explain about his visit to Dubai and Maldives. We are sure that this ‘ugahi’ (extortion) happened in Maldives and Dubai. I will give you photos soon,” the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader told reporters.

NCB’s deputy director general Mutha Ashok Jain has denied the allegations against Wankhede and said that there was no application from the agency’s zonal director for going to Dubai.

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“Sameer Wankhede, IRS joined NCB on loan basis on August 31, 2020 and after this, he has not submitted any application for Ex-lndia leave to Dubai. As per the approval of Competent Authority, the officer has availed Ex-lndia leave along with his family to Maldives,” the agency said in a statement.

On Sunday, Wankhede wrote to the Mumbai Police commissioner requesting him to “ensure that no precipitate legal action is carried out to frame me with ulterior motives.”

Notably, Nawab Malik’s son-in-law Sameer Khan was arrested on January 13 this year by the NCB in connection with a drug case. Sameer Khan was granted bail on September 27.