MUMBAI: Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan’s son walked out of jail on Saturday and was greeted with dancing and firecrackers, over three weeks after his arrest during a drug raid on a cruise ship party in Mumbai.

The High Court granted bail to 23-year-old Aryan Khan on Thursday, but he spent two more nights in the city’s Arthur Road jail because his papers did not reach the prison authorities by the deadline of 5.30pm on Friday.

Hundreds of fans of Shah Rukh Khan, who found himself at the centre of a boycott campaign on social media due to the high-profile drug case, lined up to greet Khan as he arrived at his home in Mumbai. Some danced and lit firecrackers in jubilation. Khan and seven others were detained on Oct 3 when narcotics agents raided a party and seized drugs on a luxury cruise ship off the Mumbai coast. He was held in the jail since Oct 8.

India’s narcotics agency said it had evidence in the form of WhatsApp messages that Aryan Khan was involved in illicit drug dealings.

Mukul Rohatgi, his lawyer, told the court that the agency did not find any drugs on Aryan Khan and allegations that he was in contact with drug dealers were untrue.

Published in Dawn, October 31st, 2021