Prabhakar Sail, an independent witness of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in the drugs-on-cruise case involving Aryan Khan, died of a heart attack at his residence in suburban Chembur, police said on Saturday. "Prabhakar Sail, 37, died of a heart attack at his house in Mahul on Friday evening," a police official said.
He was rushed to the civic-run Rajawadi Hospital in Ghatkopar, where he was declared brought dead, he said. Sail's lawyer Tushar Khandare confirmed that Sail died after he suffered a heart attack and that his family members do not suspect any foul play.
Sail, who claimed to be the bodyguard of NCB witness K P Gosavi, had alleged in an affidavit that he had heard Gosavi discuss a Rs 25 crore pay-off deal after Aryan Khan was arrested during a raid on a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast on October 3 last year.
The NCB had told the court that Sail had turned hostile and his affidavit was still pending before the court.
Aryan Khan was named an accused in the case along with 19 others by the NCB. The accused persons were booked under relevant sections of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act for alleged possession, consumption, sale/purchase of banned drugs, conspiracy and abetment, among others.
Of the 20 arrested accused in the case, only two are currently in judicial custody and the rest are out on bail.
A special court in Mumbai on Thursday granted 60 days extension to the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) to file a charge sheet in the drugs-on-cruise case.
The probe agency had on Monday filed an application before special judge V V Patil, seeking a 90-day extension to file a charge sheet in the case since the investigation in the high-profile case was still on.
However, the judge, after hearing arguments of both the prosecution and defence lawyers, gave the probe agency another 60 days to file a charge sheet in the case.
The NCB, through a special public prosecutor, had argued that there were "compelling reasons" to seek the extension.