Customs raids Kerala film stars' residences in luxury car smuggling probe

AM Abdussalam/ Ashraf Padanna, Gulf Today Correspondents

In a massive nationwide crackdown on the alleged illegal import of luxury vehicles through Bhutan on Tuesday, the Commissionerate of Customs (Preventive) raided the residences and premises of high-net-worth individuals, including film stars, industrialists, and senior officials.

The raids coincided with Mohanlal being honoured with the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award by President Droupadi Murmu in New Delhi.

The team raided the houses of popular Malayalam actors Dulquer Salmaan and Prithviraj Sukumaran here as part of the investigation. According to some reports, Customs officials have raided the residence of actor Amith Chakalakkal also. Customs officials served summons to Dulquer asking him to submit vehicles if there are more.

Named 'Operation Numkhor', a Bhutanese word for vehicle, the operation covered nearly 30 locations across Kerala, including Kochi, Trivandrum, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Kuttippuram, and Thrissur. Two vehicles owned by Dulquer and 11 others from Kozhikode and Malappuram districts were seized by Customs and were moved to Customs office at Calicut International Airport at Karippur.

Inspections were conducted at the actors' homes in Thevara and Panampilly Nagar, along with several other locations, including businessmen's houses and luxury car showrooms in Kochi. These nationwide inspections stem from intelligence inputs indicating that luxury cars are being smuggled into India -particularly from Bhutan - without paying the required taxes.

"Beyond the actors' residences, we are covering multiple locations across Kerala. Details cannot be disclosed at this stage but will be shared in due course," said a top Customs source.

According to information received by Customs, more than 200 high-end cars were illegally imported by declaring them as used vehicles routed through Bhutan. Luxury SUVs such as Land Cruisers, Prado, Land Rovers are reportedly among the smuggled vehicles. Vehicles originally sold for under ₹5 lakh in Bhutan reportedly fetched as much as ₹40 lakh once re-registered with Kerala numbers. Customs suspects that some of these vehicles were purchased by Malayalam actors.

A racket from Himachal Pradesh is allegedly behind this operation. "Indian law prohibits the import of second-hand vehicles. Our checks show 10 to 15 categories of violations, including forged entries on the Parivahan portal of the Motor Vehicles Department and falsified records on our systems," officials said. At least 10 to 15 such violations are involved in this illegal import, said sources. Vehicles found without proper documentation are set to be seized, and their owners face stringent penalties. Customs officers were baffled to note that a Toyota Prado was sold by an agent in Himachal Pradesh to a Delhi resident for a paltry sum of Rs100,000!

The vehicles involved were not manufactured in India, and new vehicles were suspected to have been illegally imported as used vehicles through Bhutan. Customs would seize vehicles found to have been illegally imported, and owners who cannot produce relevant documents will have to face punitive action, said sources.

According to investigators, the racket centred around 200 vehicles discarded by the Royal Bhutan Army. These were smuggled into India and registered in Himachal Pradesh, mainly under the HP-52 series, before being sold for up to four times their original value. Officials said the racket involved both agents and corrupt officials who facilitated the registration of these vehicles in Himachal Pradesh with forged No Objection Certificates (NOCs) to make them appear legitimate.

Meanwhile, the Kerala Motor Vehicles Department has initiated a parallel inquiry. MVD officials have joined the raids carried out by Customs.

A well-organised network of agents has been facilitating these transactions, exploiting legal loopholes in Indo-Bhutan trade agreements. While the vehicles are legally auctioned in Bhutan, their import and resale without proper taxation constitute a violation of Indian customs laws. Customs authorities have compiled a list of recipients of these vehicles, which reportedly includes celebrities.