The Enforcement Directorate raided premises linked to actors Dulquer Salman, his father, Mammootty, Prithviraj Sukumaran, and Amit Chakkalackal on Wednesday (8th October) in connection with a recent case related to the smuggling of high-end luxury cars to India. The central agency conducted the raids in the properties located in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
As per reports, the raids also covered some vehicle owners, auto workshops, and traders in the districts of Ernakulam, Thrissur, Kozhikode, Malappuram, and Kottayam in Kerala and the Coimbatore district in Tamil Nadu. A total of 17 premises linked to Dulquer Salman and Mammootty, including one in Chennai, were reportedly raided.
This comes a day after Dulquer Salman challenged the Customs department in the Kerala High Court for seizing his Land Rover Defender. The actor argued before the Court that he purchased the car in good faith about five years ago after paying through bank channels and getting customs clearances, invoices, and delivery notes. He said that the original importer of the vehicle was the International Committee of the Red Cross in New Delhi. The Kerala High Court, on Tuesday (7th October), directed Dulquer Salman to approach the adjudicating authority under the Customs Act for the provisional release of his luxury car. The High Court also reportedly questioned the Customs officials on the veracity of their evidence.
According to officials, a Coimbatore-based network smuggled high-end luxury cars, including Land Cruisers, Defenders, and Maseratis, into the country via Nepal and Bhutan through forged papers and hawala transactions. With forged documents, they secured fraudulent Regional Transport Office registrations in states like Arunachal Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh and, thereafter, sold these vehicles, bearing the seals of the Army and the US Embassy, at undervalued rates to high-net-worth buyers, including film celebrities. The agency said that it detected prima facie violations of Sections 3, 4, and 8 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, through unauthorised foreign exchange transactions and payments routed through hawala.
On September 23, the Customs (Preventive) Commissionerate, Kochi, launched “Operation Numkhor” in a state-wide crackdown on the smuggling of high-end luxury vehicles into India. The agency reportedly seized around 37 luxury vehicles suspected of having been smuggled by the racket.
