Kochi, Oct 8: Luxury cars, fake documents, and hawala money trails have rocked Kerala’s film industry as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) carried out raids on Malayalam superstars Prithviraj Sukumaran, Dulquer Salmaan, and Amit Chakkalackal in connection with a high-profile luxury car smuggling case.
On Wednesday, the ED’s Kochi Zonal Office conducted search operations at 17 locations across Kerala and Tamil Nadu under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999. The raids targeted allegations of high end vehicle smuggling and unauthorised foreign exchange transactions.
Officials said the searches covered the actors’ residences and businesses, as well as properties of vehicle owners, auto workshops, and dealers in Ernakulam, Thrissur, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Kottayam, and Coimbatore. The investigation follows inputs exposing a syndicate importing luxury vehicles such as Toyota Land Cruiser, Land Rover Defender, and Maserati through Bhutan and Nepal.
Preliminary findings indicate that a Coimbatore-based network used fake documents citing institutions like the Indian Army, US Embassy, and Ministry of External Affairs to register imported vehicles fraudulently in states such as Arunachal Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh. Vehicles were then sold at undervalued rates to high net worth individuals, including film personalities.
The ED is now tracing the money flow through hawala channels and examining possible links to larger rackets involving gold and narcotics smuggling.
This probe follows a Customs Department crackdown on September 23, when 36 luxury vehicles were seized in ‘Operation Numkhor’, including cars linked to Prithviraj, Dulquer, and Amit. Dulquer Salmaan recently obtained provisional permission from the Kerala High Court to seek release of one seized vehicle, asserting it was purchased legally and shipped originally by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
Officials confirmed that investigations are ongoing, with more searches and questioning expected in the coming days to identify the masterminds behind the Coimbatore network and the fraudulent documentation process.