My son is getting anxiety attacks and can't sleep at all, says Arbaaz Merchant's father

Aryan Khan and Arbaaz Merchant have been separated and assigned different barracks in the Arthur Road jail. 

Arbaaz’s father, Aslam Merchant, a lawyer by profession, spoke to ETimes exclusively, and spoke about the emotional upheaval that his family is going through, including the near nervous breakdown of his son in jail. 

Merchant met his son for the first time recently, after Arbaaz was sent to jail.

Speaking about his first meeting with his son, Merchant says,

“I have been meeting my son at all the hearings, but my wife had not seen him for almost 20 days. It was a very emotional moment for us and she cried inconsolably. But, look at the irony, I had to stop her and tell her to not waste the precious little time we got with Arbaaz in crying. We were there to talk. The moment he saw us Arbaaz said, ‘Look where I have landed?’ He told me he was in the general barrack and kept with six-seven inmates. I really don’t know what kind of background those inmates come from. Arbaaz told me he is getting anxiety attacks and cannot sleep at all”.

Merchant also reveals that it hurt him to see his son on the other side of the jail fence, a place where he normally sees his clients, other inmates, before representing them in court. 

He says, 

“My son is all alone, perhaps that’s why he is getting these anxiety attacks. They have separated the two friends -- Aryan has been kept in a separate cell, while Arbaaz is in another one. He is getting food like any other prisoner. Whenever he’s met me briefly before the court hearings, the first thing he’s wanted to know is about the development in the case.”

He further added

"Personally, I feel, at least Aryan has hope that his father is Shah Rukh Khan, a hugely popular and influential figure. But neither Arbaaz nor his father has that kind of influence. We’re just common people with no connections. I think Arbaaz was unlucky, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was just destiny I guess. But I am happy, how he has stuck by his best friend Aryan. He’s been a loyal friend, I call him a yaaron ka yaar.”

Arbaaz Merchant along with Aryan Khan was arrested on October 3 by the NCB after it raided a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast and claimed to have seized banned drugs.

They both are currently lodged in Arthur road jail.