Aryan Khan drug case: Arbaaz Merchant hadn't slept, eaten for 5 days, Aslam Merchant

Mumbai, Oct 29: Aslam Merchant, father of Arbaaz Merchant, one of the accused in the Mumbai cruise ship drug case, shared his happiness over his son getting bail from the Bombay High Court.

Speaking to news agency ANI, Aslam Merchant said his son is excited to be out of jail after over 20 days. "This is my 3 visit here(Arthur Rd Jail). I talked to him for about 20 mins and told him he will be out today or tomorrow. He told me to get him out today only & told me that he hadn't slept and eaten for 5 days in excitement," he said.

After the court granted bail on Friday, the elated Merchant said that the family has been waiting for this moment for 34,560 minutes. "My wife was counting minutes, not days," he stated.

He added, "These children have been traumatised. To be in jail is traumatic. Just imagine the plight of others who have been through this inside the jail. I have experienced this after my own son has been there for the past few days."

Arbaaz Merchant further added that the children should be sent to rehab not jail in such cases. "Justice should be done as soon as possible. If in case, you've to correct people in such cases, it has to be in rehab, not in jail," he added.

Aryan Khan and others was arrested in connection with the seizure of banned drugs, on board a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast on 3 October.

The Bombay High Court on Thursday granted bail to Aryan Khan, Arbaaz Merchant, and Munmun Dhamecha in the high-profile drug bust case. They are likely to be out of jail today.