Operation Numkhor: Customs Raid Homes Of Actors Dulquer, Prithviraj Homes In Illegal Car Import Probe

Kochi: The Customs Commissionerate (Preventive), Kochi, has launched one of its biggest crackdowns in recent years, targeting the alleged illegal import of luxury vehicles from Bhutan. The operation - codenamed Operation Numkhor (Bhutanese for“vehicle”) - has cast its net wide, with raids at nearly 30 locations across Kerala, including the homes of prominent film stars, industrialists, and vehicle dealers.

Customs officials confirmed that close to 198 premium vehicles were smuggled into India by evading hefty import duties. Of these, around 20 luxury SUVs have already been seized from Kerala - 11 of them from Kozhikode and Malappuram districts alone. The confiscated vehicles are being shifted to the Customs office at Karipur Airport for verification.

Celebrities and Officials Under the Scanner

Among those whose properties came under inspection were Malayalam actors Dulquer Salmaan and Prithviraj Sukumaran. Customs officers visited Dulquer's residence in Panampilly Nagar, Kochi, and Prithviraj's properties in Thevara and Thiruvananthapuram. Though officials left Prithviraj's Thiruvananthapuram home without a raid as no vehicles were found there, inspections were intensified in Kochi.

The crackdown also extended to the godown of veteran actor Mammootty's old house, where his cars are currently parked. Multiple showrooms, including the Road Way Used Car Showroom in Thondayad, Kozhikode, were also raided.

Interestingly, the web of illegal purchases may not be confined to just industrialists and celebrities. According to Customs, senior central government officials are also under investigation. Vehicles registered under the Director of the National TB Institute and the Member Secretary of the Central Silk Board were identified in Bengaluru as being part of the same import racket.

How the Racket Worked

The Customs investigation revealed that many of the smuggled vehicles were not manufactured in India and had been imported illegally as“used vehicles” through Bhutan, bypassing prohibitions on second-hand imports. SUVs, including some discarded by the Bhutanese Army, were allegedly brought across the border, falsely registered in states such as Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Arunachal Pradesh, before being sold in other parts of India.

Forged records were reportedly created on both the Parivahan portal of the Motor Vehicles Department and the Customs website to simulate legal import and registration status. With import duties on cars in India touching nearly 200%, smugglers found a lucrative market among high-profile buyers, including film stars and business magnates.

A Long-Planned Crackdown

The current raids are the culmination of long-term surveillance and intelligence-gathering by Customs and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence. A 200% duty has to be paid to import vehicles from other countries. There is also no permission to import second-hand vehicles into the country. It is reported that a huge racket is behind this scam, bypassing all these regulations.

Officials made it clear that all illegally imported vehicles will be seized, and owners failing to produce valid supporting documents will face legal proceedings. Sources within Customs suggested that 10 to 15 clear violations have already been recorded, and more could surface in the coming days.

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