DJ Aqeel cleared of drug possession charges, leaves for India

DUBAI: Celebrity disc jockey Aqeel was on Thursday discharged in a case of drug possession, about two weeks after he was allegedly caught with ecstasy tablets in his bag at the international airport here, his lawyer said.

"Aqeel was honourably discharged by the prosecutor (the Indian equivalent of Magistrate) as there was no sustainable evidence against him," his lawyer Ashish Mehta said.

The local magistrate discharged Aqeel after his lawyer argued that the contraband recovered from his bag was 'planted'.

Mehta said Aqeel has left Dubai in the morning and has already reached Mumbai.

Aqeel was held at the airport on June three with 0.06 gram of ecstasy, a banned drug, in his bag and was handed over to the police. He was visiting Dubai to take part in a radio programme.

However, tests conducted by the police had found no traces of ecstasy in his blood and urine samples.

His wife Farah Khan had earlier claimed that he does not consume drugs and 'somebody must have planted' the contraband in his bag.

Aqeel is the third celebrity to be caught with banned drugs in a Gulf country.

In June 2005, fashion designer Prasad Bidappa was held in Dubai on charges of possessing marijuana.

Indian officials said Bidappa, who spent over a month in custody, was freed on a mercy petition filed by his wife and released on the first day of his trial.

The same year, actor Vijay Raaz was freed by UAE authorities after being detained on charges of possessing drugs.