Notice to be issued to Dulquer asking him to appear in person; customs to proceed with steps in Operation Numkhor 

KOCHI: The customs preventive department has started an intensive investigation into the case of vehicles, including luxury cars, being smuggled to India from Bhutan and sold without paying tax. Notices will be issued to actor Dulquer Salmaan and others asking them to appear in person. The customs had grilled Amit Chakkalakkal last midnight after two vehicles were seized from his house. There are chances to seize more of his cars.

The customs commissioner had told media the other day that money laundering is suspected in the case of smuggling luxury vehicles from abroad. None of the buyers of the vehicles had paid money through direct channels. In this situation, it is possible that the enforcement directorate may also file a case. The residences of actors Prithviraj, Dulquer Salmaan and Amit Chakkalakkal were raided yesterday. The vehicles the celebrities purchased from middlemen and second-hand showrooms trapped them.

The raid was in the name of ‘Operation 'Numkhor'. The aim was to arrest the gang that smuggles and sells vintage vehicles abandoned by the Bhutanese army. The vehicles were purchased by celebrities by paying more than Rs 25 lakh. The raid was conducted at 35 locations, including the homes of middlemen who smuggled the vehicles from Bhutan and those who bought the vehicles from second-hand showrooms. The raid, which began in Kozhikode, Malappuram, Ernakulam, Thrissur and Thiruvananthapuram yesterday morning, continued till evening.

The customs received information that 150 to 200 vehicles brought by a vehicle smuggling gang in Coimbatore were illegally registered in Himachal Pradesh and brought to Kerala. The inspection was conducted after it was confirmed that the vehicles were purchased by celebrities through middlemen.