Why was Dulquer Salmaan interrogated by Customs for 7 hours?
What's the story
Actor Dulquer Salmaan was interrogated by a Customs team earlier this week as part of the ongoing investigation into an alleged luxury SUV smuggling racket. The questioning lasted for nearly seven hours, as per OnManorama, and was conducted at the Customs office where Salmaan had been summoned on Tuesday. The probe is part of Operation Numkhor, which has so far led to the seizure of around 60 vehicles and the arrest of seven people.
Details
Salmaan's vehicles were seized earlier
As part of the investigation, four vehicles belonging to Salmaan were seized earlier. He had reportedly managed to secure the provisional release of two of these vehicles. However, he has not yet requested the same for the remaining two. A Customs source told The Hindu that details about these vehicles were sought during the interrogation and Salmaan may be asked to produce other high-end vehicles in his possession before investigators.
Additional interrogations
Other individuals also questioned
Apart from Salmaan, four other individuals who are allegedly connected to the seized vehicles were also questioned on Tuesday and Wednesday. The case involves the smuggling of used luxury vehicles into India via the Bhutan and Nepal borders using forged documents to evade customs duty. The four vehicles owned by Salmaan under the radar include a Land Rover Defender, a Toyota Land Cruiser, and a Nissan Patrol. Last year, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had conducted raids regarding this case, too.