After the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) questioned the presence of a BJP leader during the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) raid on a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast on October 2, the saffron party functionary in the midst of the controversy, Manish Bhanushali, claimed that the allegations levelled against him by NCP leader Nawab Malik are "wrong."
Malik had alleged that two civilians, one of who is a BJP functionary, was present during the NCB raid. “The second person who can be seen holding the hand of Arbaaz Merchant and taking him into the NCB office is Manish Bhanushali. As per his own social media feed, he holds the post of BJP vice president," Indian Express quoted Malik as saying.
Noting that Bhanushali was seen in pictures with senior BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Malik had said, "The NCB will have to explain as to why this man was with them during the raid."
According to news agency ANI, reacting to the charges, Bhanushali said, "NCP leader Nawab Malik has put wrong allegations against me. BJP has nothing to do with it (the arrests). I received information on October 1 that a drugs party was to be held. I was with NCB officers(at the ship) for updated information."
He further claimed that he does not have any official position in the BJP and added that he gave the information about the cruise party "being an active citizen of the country."
"I got to know that last month one of Nawab Malik's relatives was held by NCB in a drug case....I will file a defamation case against Nawab Malik. He has put my life in danger. I will request authority to provide me security," he said.
Meanwhile, the NCB clarified that there is no substance in the allegations made by the NCB leader. “The allegations made against the agency are baseless and if anyone has any reservation, he or she can approach the court and we will appropriately reply to them,” NCB's Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede was quoted as saying.
NCB detained and later arrested Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's son Aaryan Khan and seven others after it raided a cruise ship here and busted a drugs party on Sunday.
