Kochi, October 9: India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday conducted searches at 17 locations across Kerala and Tamil Nadu, including the residences of film actors Dulquer Salmaan, Prithviraj Sukumaran, and Amit Chakkalakkal, as part of an ongoing probe into the smuggling of luxury vehicles and illegal foreign exchange transactions, officials said.
The searches, carried out by the ED’s Kochi Zonal Office under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), targeted properties of actors, vehicle owners, automobile traders, and workshops in Ernakulam, Thrissur, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Kottayam, and Coimbatore.
According to the agency, the raids stem from an investigation into a Coimbatore-based syndicate suspected of importing high-end cars such as Land Cruiser, Defender, and Maserati through the Indo-Bhutan and Nepal routes using forged documents. The network allegedly used fake papers purportedly from the Indian Army, U.S. Embassy, and Ministry of External Affairs, along with fraudulent RTO registrations in Arunachal Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh, to disguise the vehicles’ origins before selling them to wealthy buyers, including film personalities.
The ED said it found prima facie violations of Sections 3, 4, and 8 of FEMA, relating to unauthorised foreign exchange dealings and hawala transactions, and that further investigation was under way to trace the money trail and beneficiary network.
The raids follow a Customs (Preventive) Commissionerate, Kochi operation on September 23, during which officials seized 37 luxury vehicles suspected of being smuggled from Bhutan. Three more were seized in subsequent days. The Customs operation, codenamed “Numkhor” – meaning “vehicle” in the Bhutanese language – had flagged 150 to 200 vehicles for registration irregularities.
Multiple vehicles belonging to Dulquer Salmaan and Amit Chakkalakkal were among those seized, officials said. While investigators visited Prithviraj Sukumaran’s residence in Kochi, no vehicles were seized there.
Salmaan has since approached the Kerala High Court seeking the release of his vehicles. On Tuesday, the court directed him to move the adjudicating authority under the Customs Act for one of his seized SUVs. The ED said the investigation was continuing into the alleged import racket and associated foreign exchange violations.
