Aryan Khan case: Ananya Panday's home in Mumbai was raided by the anti-drugs agency yesterday.
Actor Ananya Panday, questioned on two days by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in the drugs-on-cruise case, has denied using drugs or helping Aryan Khan source them. The 22-year-old Bollywood star was summoned reportedly on the basis of two-year-old WhatsApp chats found on the phone of Aryan Khan, details of which have been leaked by the anti-drugs agency. Her questioning will continue on Monday. Ananya Panday's home in Mumbai's Bandra was raided by the anti-drugs agency yesterday and her laptop and mobile phones were seized. She was questioned for two hours on Saturday and around four hours on Friday.
Aryan Khan, the son of superstar Shah Rukh Khan, was arrested following a drugs raid on a cruise ship party on October 2 and has been in jail since October 8.
Ananya Panday was reportedly questioned by NCB officer Sameer Wankhede - he's leading the cruise investigation - on chats that appeared to indicate that she helped Aryan Khan procure weed, say NCB sources. The sources said her answers on Friday were not satisfactory, so she would be questioned again on Monday.
"The chats recovered from Aryan Khan's mobile phone reveal that in the year 2018-19, she helped supply drugs to Aryan thrice by providing him the numbers of drug dealers," NCB sources told ANI.
ANI quoted the sources as saying that Ananya Panday's name comes up in a chat that reveals she supplied weed to Aryan thrice including one at a well-attended get-together.
"Ananya denied the supply-related talks in the chat conversation and told the NCB officials that she has never consumed or supplied the drugs," the sources were quoted as saying.
"We have seized both phones of Ananya Panday, which includes an old handset as well as the phone she purchased a few months ago. The phones have been seized to check evidence tampering," NCB sources told ANI.
Aryan Khan is in Mumbai's Arthur Road jail and has been denied bail twice. His request for bail will be heard by the Bombay High Court on Tuesday. Yesterday, his father, superstar Shah Rukh Khan, visited him in jail for the first time.
The 23-year-old star son, his friend Arbaaz Merchant and 18 others were arrested after an NCB team in disguise busted an alleged rave party on the Cordelia Cruise ship that was on its way to Goa.
No drugs were found on Aryan Khan; the case against him is based entirely on information from his WhatsApp chats.
Ananya Panday is best friends with Aryan Khan's sister Suhana and they all share a common friends' circle.
Ananya Panday, the daughter of actor Chunky Panday, debuted in films in 2019 and is among the rising younger generation of stars in Bollywood.