Bhutan car smuggling case: ED conducts raids at actor Dulquer Salmaan’s and Prithviraj’s residences

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has intensified its investigation into the Bhutan vehicle smuggling case, conducting searches at 17 locations, including the residences of actors Dulquer Salmaan and Mammootty.

Officials from the ED’s Kochi unit carried out raids at three of Dulquer Salmaan’s homes and at Mammootty’s residence as part of a preliminary inquiry into the case.

Earlier, the Customs department had also conducted raids linked to the smuggling of vehicles from Bhutan. The latest actions by the ED are aimed at tightening the probe and gathering further evidence.

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 linked 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 Preventive Department and directed the agency to consider it within one week if such a plea is filed.

According to Dulquer, the vehicle was shipped by the International Committee of the Red Cross to the ICRC Regional Delegation in New Delhi.

In his petition, the actor stated that he was under the bona fide belief that the vehicle had valid ownership and registration with the Motor Vehicle 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.

The Customs officials conducted raids at around 30 locations across Kerala on September 23, including the homes of the three actors, and seized 36 luxury cars.

The raids, part of 'Operation Numkhor', revealed that some of these vehicles were also used to smuggle gold and drugs.

(With PTI inputs)