Aryan targeted because his surname is Khan: Mehbooba on 'travesty of justice'

PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti on Monday launched a scathing attack on the BJP-led central government, alleging that Aryan Khan was targeted in the drugs bust case “simply because his surname happens to be Khan”.

She lamented the “travesty of justice” in a tweet and pointed to the case against Union Minister of State Ajay Mishra’s son, Ashish, who is accused of mowing down farmers in UP’s Lakhimpur Kheri.

“Instead of making an example out of a Union Minister’s son accused of killing four farmers, central agencies are after a 23 year old simply because his surname happens to be Khan. Travesty of justice that muslims are targeted to satiate the sadistic wishes of BJPs core vote bank,” Mufti, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister, wrote on the social networking platform.

Instead of making an example out of a Union Minister’s son accused of killing four farmers, central agencies are after a 23 year old simply because his surname happens to be Khan.Travesty of justice that muslims are targeted to satiate the sadistic wishes of BJPs core vote bank.

— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) October 11, 2021

Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on October 3 after a raid on board a cruise ship off the coast of Mumbai. While he did not have any drugs in his possession, his bail plea has been denied and he is currently lodged in Mumbai’s Arthur Road prison till his next bail hearing on Wednesday.

The NCB argued that if released, Aryan could tamper with evidence and try to influence witnesses.

Ashish Mishra, meanwhile, was arrested on Saturday night, six days after violence broke out resulting in the death of eight persons during a farmers’ protest in Lakhimpur Kheri on October 3. He was named in an FIR following allegations that he was in one of the vehicles that rammed into protesting farmers, and arrested after intervention by the Supreme Court.

The BJP government in UP has been accused of shielding Mishra and his son by the opposition parties.

Also read: The politics behind the Lakhimpur violence and its huge cost