MUMBAI: Coping with insomnia, family issues, loss of a parent, study and work pressure were among the main reasons for taking drugs that some of the accused and others cited in their statements to the NCB as part of the cruise drugs case. The chargesheet was submitted on Friday.
Arbaaz Merchant (26), from whom 6gm of charas was allegedly seized during the raid on the cruise liner in October 2021, said he used it to fight depression and anxiety. He is afriend of Aryan Khan, son of actor Shah Rukh Khan.
“Merchant confessed that after alcohol, sometimes his head gets really heavy and smoking hash calms him, that’s why he has concealed hash in his shoes,” the chargesheet stated.
Aryan was among the six against whom charges were dropped, but his alleged statements remain in the chargesheet. “Aryan said he started smoking ganja in the US in 2018 when he was doing his graduation there. At that time, he was having some sleeping disorders and he had read in a few internet articles ganja smoking can help,” the NCB said.
London-based student Aachit Kumar (22), who was arrested from Powai on October 6, 2021, and from whose house 2. 6gm of ganja was purportedly seized, attributed his drug consumption to academic pressure, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) stated in its chargesheet in the 2021 cruise drugs case.
“Kumar admitted that to overcome the pressure of his studies he is consuming imported marijuana buds. He further said that his studies have however been affected badly due to marijuana consumption. Kumar also accepted that he is aware of the fact that imported marijuana bud is a narcotic drug and its sales, consumption, and purchase are illegal,” added the chargesheet which was submitted on Friday.
The NCB’s special investigation team said that none of the chats recovered from the phone of Aryan Khan, son of actor Shah Rukh Khan, connected him to the case and no drugs were recovered from him. It also cited the “non-availablity of concrete evidence” which could prove his role or his conspiracy with Arbaaz Merchant or any other accused. “Hence, no complaint is being filed against him in the instant case,” the chargesheet said.
Among the chargesheeted accused, cruise guest Munmun Dhamecha (28) allegedly told NCB that she “smoked charas to overcome depression…” The anti-drug agency has alleged that 5gm of charas were found on her cabin floor.
Shreyas Nair (23), accused of being a supplier, is alleged to have told NCB that he started consuming drugs in 2017, when he was doing his hotel management course. “He admitted that he used to consume weed daily and hash occasionally which he used to purchase from one…Mike who used to stay near his college,” the chargesheet claimed.
Merchant’s acquaintance, whose statement was also recorded and house searched, said that he started trying hash and weed in 2019 when he was suffering from depression due to a “backlog” in his college and after being fired from his internship. He said he quit the habit in 2020 and took to smoking cigarettes as drugs were hard to source during the lockdown.
According to psychiatrist Dr Harish Shetty, a sympathetic view needs to be taken of those who only consume drugs and are not involved in its sale.
Dr Shetty added that easy availability of substances, stress, the fact that certain drugs have been destigmatized and the myth that some of these drugs are harmless and recreational, have ensured that more and more people are using them. “In a stressed situation, you need a quick high. Cannabis will do that alcohol will not,” he added.
In 2020, the Supreme Court had held that statements made to NCB officers solely cannot be used as a confessional statement in the trial of an offence or to convict an accused under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
