Operation Numkhor: NIA and ED in scene; terrorist groups involved in vehicle smuggling from Bhutan?

KOCHI: The NIA and ED have started a preliminary investigation into the alleged involvement of terrorist groups and black money transactions behind the smuggling of luxury vehicles from Bhutan. The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) will investigate the financial transactions in the vehicle smuggling, and the Central GST Commissionerate will investigate the GST evasion. The state police and the Motor Vehicles Department are examining the transactions.

The ED is investigating money laundering, while the NIA is investigating terrorist groups. In the inspection conducted by the Customs the other day under the name of 'Operation Numkhor', it was found that crimes affecting national security were being committed under the guise of vehicle smuggling. The intervention of central agencies happened after this.

More than a thousand vehicles, including those abandoned by the Bhutanese army, have been smuggled into India without paying taxes. Customs has found that 150-200 of these vehicles are being used in Kerala. Investigation has been intensified for the masterminds of the crime and natives of Delhi and Himachal Pradesh, Santosh Kumar, Harikumar and Manoj Kumar. Officers of the ED Kochi unit visited the Customs Preventive Office yesterday and collected information about the case.

Actors to be served notices

Customs has served notices to the owners of the 36 seized vehicles to produce documents. Actors Prithviraj and Dulquer Salmaan will also be served notices and summoned. Dulquer will be asked to produce two more vehicles. The Land Cruiser with Thrissur registration seized from Dulquer's house is in someone else's name. Actor Amit Chakkalackal's statement was recorded. A vehicle belonging to a woman from Thiruvananthapuram, a social media influencer, was seized from Adimali and another vehicle belonging to someone else was seized from Kundannoor, Ernakulam, yesterday.