The Commissioner of Customs (Preventive) in Kochi has seized eight more cars as part of Operation Numkhor, an investigation into the smuggling of vehicles from Bhutan and Nepal. The Customs unit announced that its team confiscated an SUV (Nissan Patrol) used in the movie 'Lucky Bhaskar' from one Eldo Paul, on the reasonable belief that the vehicle was illegally imported into India. The remaining seven vehicles were seized from various locations across the state on Thursday.
Investigation Uncovers Fake Registrations
According to Customs officials, an investigation revealed that the Bongaigaon Police in Assam had registered a case against the District Transport Officer (DTO) of Bongaigaon and the Joint DTO, arresting them along with seven other individuals for registering 464 vehicles using fake or forged documents at the Bongaigaon Regional Transport Office (RTO). Records indicate that most of these vehicles were initially registered in Lakshadweep.
Officers from the Cochin Customs unit arrested Bongaigaon DTO Deepak Potawary and four others for their active involvement in the fake registration of smuggled vehicles.
Kingpin and Distribution Network
During the course of the investigation, it emerged that Biswajit Das, the alleged kingpin of this smuggling operation, had sourced many smuggled SUVs from Bhutan and sold them to Roadway Cars in Kozhikode through an intermediary from New Delhi. Customs stated that the investigation revealed Zain Marva, a partner at M/s Roadway Cars, was directly linked to the smuggling gangs and distributed smuggled SUVs across Kerala.
A Customs team arrested Marva on Thursday under the provisions of the Customs Act 1962 for his active involvement in smuggling SUVs from Bhutan to Kerala, valued at over Rs 1.5 crore.
The operation continues as authorities work to dismantle the entire network involved in the illegal import and registration of vehicles.
