Kerala: Five held for smuggling high-end used cars from Bhutan; DTO among accused
Kochi (PTI): The Customs (Preventive) Commissionerate has arrested five persons from West Bengal and Assam in connection with the smuggling of high-end used cars from Bhutan, officials said on Saturday.
In a statement, Customs said the arrested persons were Biswadip Das (35) of Jaigaon in Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal, Dipak Patowary (57) of Paltanbazar in Kamrup district, Ayub Ali of Jogighopa in Bongaigaon district, MD Mostafa Ahmed (35) of Boladmari in Goalpara district and Jalal Mandal (31) of Chapar in Dhubri district. All four belong to Assam.
Customs officials said Patowary was the District Transport Officer (DTO) of Bongaigaon in Assam.
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The arrests were made following a widespread investigation conducted in Assam and West Bengal, with the assistance of police and Customs formations in the northeastern states, officials said.
"During an investigation by Assam Police, they were found to have registered 460 such vehicles using forged documents. The vehicles include foreign-made cars as well as Indian-made vehicles that were exported earlier and later smuggled back into the country without payment of Customs duties. These were then illegally registered using forged documents," Customs said.
The Customs (Preventive) Commissionerate, Kochi, launched "Operation Numkhor" last year after it was found that used vehicles, mostly high-end SUVs from Bhutan, were being illegally smuggled into India, re-registered in various states, and sold to buyers who claimed they were legally imported.
Last year, Customs seized several vehicles, including some belonging to film actors in Kerala, which had been sold to them by persons involved in the illegal smuggling of vehicles from Bhutan.
The Customs statement said Das, who was arrested on February 22 and is an employee of a major IT firm, was the mastermind behind the smuggling of vehicles from Bhutan.
He was apprehended near the India-Bhutan border and later brought to Kochi on a transit warrant before being remanded in judicial custody.
Customs will soon approach the court seeking the custody of the arrested persons for further investigation, officials said.
According to Customs, a recent report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) found that 15,849 vehicles with the same chassis and engine numbers were registered in multiple northeastern states.
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Will vacate one of two assembly seats won in 10 days: BJP''s Suvendu
Kolkata (PTI): BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, who defeated West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Bhabanipur and secured Nandigram for three times in a row in the recent assembly polls, said on Wednesday that he would vacate one of the two constituencies within 10 days.
Adhikari also asserted that the party's central leadership would decide which constituency he would retain.
"I will vacate one seat within 10 days. The party will decide which one I retain. I will not forget my responsibility towards the people of Bhabanipur and Nandigram," he said.
Adhikari on Monday defeated Banerjee in Bhabanipur by over 15,000 votes, puncturing what was long seen as her safest political refuge and delivering a decisive psychological blow to the TMC, amid a sweeping BJP surge across West Bengal.
Addressing party workers and supporters in Nandigram in Purba Medinipur district, the BJP leader appealed to them not to take out victory processions immediately and instead maintain peace.
"Do not take out victory rallies now. Maintain peace and discipline. Celebrate after May 9, after taking permission," he told party workers.
State BJP president Samik Bhattacharya on Wednesday announced that the oath-taking ceremony of the new government will be held on May 9 at Brigade Parade Ground.
Referring to alleged attacks on BJP workers during the TMC regime, Adhikari said he would not forget the “atrocities" faced by them and assured them of taking appropriate action against perpetrators through legal processes.
"I was part of the 2011 ‘poribartan’ (change), and now I am part of the real change. I offer my gratitude to the people of Nandigram," Adhikari said.
He was referring to the TMC's victory in 2011 when the Mamata Banerjee party dismantled the 34-year Left Front regime in the state.
Adhikari offered prayers at a Hanuman statue in Nandigram and remembered the BJP workers, who had died in political violence.
"We will work in such a way that the BJP government in Bengal stays for 100 years," he said, expressing hope that the BJP’s vote share in the state would rise from the current 46 per cent to 60 per cent in future elections.
The BJP leader also assured residents of Nandigram of improved drinking water supply and better hospital and education infrastructure.
