Curious onlookers had lined up on the streets outside Arthur Road jail

Mumbai: It was a Friday release that Shah Rukh Khan’s family, friends and fans were waiting eagerly for, their eyes on the clock expecting the actor’s son Aryan Khan to walk out of prison. But even as the drone of crowds outside Arthur Road Jail grew louder and Mannat, the Khan home in Bandra, sparkled with fairy lights, it was a countdown that did not end after Aryan’s bail papers missed the jail’s deadline.

While the sea of humanity that erupted near Mannat on Thursday as soon as news broke of Aryan being granted bail had been kept at bay by the police who cordoned off the road outside the actor’s bungalow with only media allowed to take up space, a large crowd had gathered outside Arthur Road Jail in anticipation of SRK’s arrival and Aryan’s exit.

Traffic cops rushed in to control the bottleneck caused by cars and taxis slowing down while police personnel from N M Joshi Marg had to be called in to manage the milling crowd of onlookers queued up on pavements, perched on the divider and trailing every arriving car, to greet the actor.

“I have come here to see King Khan,” said a youngster, waiting outside Arthur Road’s gate for over three hours. A man in his 30s said, “I come to this area for work but when I heard Shah Rukh Khan’s son might come out of jail soon, I decided to wait.” A group of women grew impatient with speculation that Aryan’s release may be delayed to Saturday.

Aryan’s bail papers failed to meet the 5.30 pm deadline when the bail box closes for further submissions. “The bail box outside the jail is opened four times a day following which the bail documents submitted are verified before allowing a prisoner to step out of jail. If someone drops the bail paper after the specified time, the prisoner is released the next day,” a jail source told TOI.

Earlier in the day, the mood at the Khan household had seemed upbeat. SRK had left home in the afternoon, perhaps hopeful the formalities would be completed for Aryan to walk free while Diwali arrived early at Mannat. Their domestic help were seen draping the house with strings of light that came on after dusk and dispelled the darkness of one more night before the Khans can welcome their son back home.

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Mumbai: A day after the Bombay high court granted Arbaaz Merchant bail in the drugs case, his father, Aslam, visited Arthur Road jail. Aslam told TOI: “This is my third visit here (at Arthur Road jail). I spoke to Arbaaz for about 20 minutes and told him he will be out today or tomorrow. He told me to get him out today itself and told me that he had been unable to sleep or eat for five days due to excitement.”

Arbaaz, a friend of Aryan Khan, was arrested along with Munmun Dhamecha on October 3 after the NCB found 6 gram of charas from Arbaaz’s shoes.