Cruise Ship Drug Bust Case: NCB Opposes Discharge Application of Accused Munmun Dhamecha

The Narcotics Control Bureau on Thursday opposed the discharge application filed by Munmun Dhamecha, an accused in the Cordelia cruise ship ‘drug bust’ case, saying there is evidence to show she was a consumer of drugs.

Dhamecha was arrested with Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan and others in October 2021 after the cruise ship was raided by NCB off the coast of Mumbai.

While Dhamecha and other accused are currently out on bail, the probe agency has dropped its case against Aryan Khan.

Dhamecha, through her lawyer Kaashif Khan, has moved a discharged plea claiming the case is filed with “malicious intentions and an ulterior motive to harass and implicate the accused”.

The accused claimed the NCB’s chargesheet clearly asserted the raiding team seized the alleged contraband from the desk present in the cabin room.

Thus, the same was not found in the possession of the person or luggage of the applicant (Dhamecha), her plea added.

However, the NCB’s written reply said Dhamecha, in her own statement dated October 3, 2021, stated she had purchased 5 grams of charas from Goa for her own consumption.

Besides, she had accepted that when NCB officials went to search the cabin, she threw the packet of charas from her pocket. Thus, she had accepted that drugs found from the room they were lodged in belonged to her, the NCB response said.

The NCB’s reply further stated that “during the forensic examination of the mobile phone of the applicant suspicious chats/audio notes were found in which she is helping her friend in procuring drugs in Goa, which confirms she is connected to persons involved in sale of drugs”.

The NCB said there was evidence to show she was a consumer of the drug.

In her discharge plea, Dhamecha had pleaded parity with the case of Shahrukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan, who was given a clean chit by the SIT set up the NCB.

However, the probe agency said, “No complaint was filed against Aryan Khan as no evidence was found that could prove his involvement with the recovered 6 grams of charas from the possession of Arbaaz Merchant, another accused in the case.” The probe agency also filed its response to the discharge plea of co-accused Achit Kumar.

The hearing in the matter has been adjourned to September 11.