Kerala luxury cars smuggling case: ED raids properties of actors Dulquer Salmaan, Prithviraj, others
Kochi: The ED on Wednesday raided premises linked to actors Prithviraj Sukumaran, Dulquer Salmaan, Amit Chakkalackal and some other persons across Kerala and in Tamil Nadu as part of an investigation linked to a recent Customs case related to alleged smuggling of luxury vehicles from Bhutan to India, official sources said. The searches by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) also covered certain vehicle owners, auto workshops, and traders in Ernakulam, Thrissur, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Kottayam and Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu). A total of 17 premises were covered, including one in Chennai linked to superstar Mammootty, the father of Dulquer Salmaan, the sources told reporters. The location linked to Mammootty is being searched in connection with the action against his son, the sources said.
The action is being taken under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) in a recent case unearthed by the preventive department of Customs related to alleged smuggling of luxury vehicles and unauthorised foreign exchange dealings, they said. The ED will also soon file a criminal case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to probe the allegations, the sources said. The searches are based on inputs about a syndicate engaged in illegal import and registration of high-end cars such as Land Cruiser, Defender, and Maserati through the India-Bhutan and India-Nepal routes, they said. Preliminary findings, according to the officials, point to a Coimbatore-based network that used "forged" documents (purporting to be from Indian Army, US Embassy, and MEA) and fraudulent RTO registrations in Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and some other states. The vehicles were later sold to high-net worth (HNI) individuals, including film personalities, at undervalued prices, they alleged. The ED suspects that the case bears prima facie violations of sections 3, 4, and 8 of FEMA that involves unauthorised foreign exchange transactions and cross-border payments through hawala channels.
In a related development, the Kerala High Court on Tuesday allowed Dulquer Salmaan to file an application for the provisional release of his vehicle seized by the Customs, and directed the agency to consider it within one week if such a plea is filed. According to Salmaan, the vehicle was shipped by the International Committee of the Red Cross to the ICRC Regional Delegation in New Delhi. The actor said he was under the bona fide belief that the vehicle had valid ownership and registration with the motor vehicles authority, and there was nothing to make him suspect its validity. The actor claimed that Customs officials refused to examine the vehicle's documents handed over to them, and carried out the seizure in a "hasty" and "arbitrary" fashion. Customs officials raided around 30 locations across Kerala on September 23, including the homes of Prithviraj, Salmaan and Chakkalackal, and seized 36 luxury cars. The raids, which were part of 'Operation Numkhor', revealed that some of these vehicles were also used to smuggle gold and drugs.
