ED raids Dulquer Salmaan, Prithviraj, and others in luxury car smuggling probe


Daijiworld Media Network – New Delhi

New Delhi, Oct 8: Malayalam superstar Dulquer Salmaan’s house and over a dozen locations across Kerala and Tamil Nadu were raided by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) today in connection with an ongoing probe into luxury car smuggling and unauthorised foreign exchange dealings, sources said.

The raids targeted 17 premises, including properties of film stars Prithviraj Sukumaran and Amith Chackalacal, as well as car owners, auto workshops, and traders in Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu) and districts of Ernakulam, Thrissur, Kozhikode, Malappuram, and Kottayam (Kerala). The action was conducted under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) following customs findings of illegal imports of high-end vehicles.

Since the previous raid in September, at least 40 cars linked to the three actors have been seized, including a Nissan Patrol SUV and a Land Rover Defender belonging to Salmaan.

Chackalacal’s Land Rover was also seized, with authorities suspecting his direct connection to the smugglers.

The investigation focuses on a syndicate illegally importing and registering luxury vehicles such as Toyota Land Cruisers, Land Rovers, and Maseratis via Bhutan and Nepal routes. A Coimbatore-based network is under scrutiny, with preliminary findings indicating the use of forged documents purporting to be from the Indian Army, Ministry of External Affairs, and US Embassy, along with fraudulent RTO registrations in Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, and other states.

The vehicles were reportedly sold to high-net-worth individuals, including film stars, at undervalued prices, triggering FEMA violations involving unauthorised foreign exchange transactions and hawala channel payments. Investigators are tracing the money trail, beneficiary network, and foreign exchange flows.

Luxury vehicles remain a high-risk segment for tax evasion, and officials have emphasized that the probe is a systematic operation targeting both showrooms and individual importers suspected of illicit practices.

  

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Title: ED raids Dulquer Salmaan, Prithviraj, and others in luxury car smuggling probe



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