The Enforcement Directorate (ED) kicked off a sweeping crackdown on luxury car smuggling in Kerala and Tamil Nadu today, raiding 17 locations that included the homes of Malayalam film stars Mammootty, Dulquer Salmaan and Prithviraj Sukumaran. The operation—called Operation Numkhor—operates under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) and aims to stop the illegal import of high‑end vehicles from Bhutan and Nepal using forged documents and false registrations.
Earlier this year, Customs officials had already investigated the son of Mammootty and actor Dulquer Salmaan in a related probe. The new raid expands that work, probing violations of foreign‑exchange and customs rules that have allegedly allowed a Coimbatore‑based network to move luxury cars—including Land Cruisers, Toyota Defenders and Maseratis—into India.
The smugglers forged paperwork supposedly from the Indian Army, the U.S. Embassy and India’s Ministry of External Affairs. They registered the cars in states such as Arunachal Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh with bogus documents, then sold them to high‑net‑worth buyers at below‑market prices. These vehicles were shipped across the India‑Bhutan and India‑Nepal borders by transhipment routes that bypass official customs checks.
Customs officials seized Dulquer Salmaan’s Land Rover Defender during the operation, alleging the vehicle carried fake registration documents and was part of a tax‑evasion scheme. Investigators went beyond the physical seizures, analysing digital evidence and payment records to track the money trail and identify the key players in the smuggling ring.
In a separate court decision, the Kerala High Court allowed Dulquer Salmaan to request the provisional release of his vehicle from customs. The customs authority is required to decide on the plea within a week, according to the court’s ruling.
The ED’s aggressive push into luxury car smuggling, involving high‑profile actors in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, signals a broader intent to enforce foreign‑exchange and customs laws across India, especially in the sensitive India‑Bhutan and India‑Nepal trade corridors.
Source: aninews
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