The Customs (Preventive) Commissionerate, Kochi, seized seven SUVs in connection with Operation Numkhor—a nationwide crackdown on the large-scale smuggling of premium second-hand vehicles through Bhutan and forged registration rackets involving Motor Vehicle Department (MVD) officials—from across Kerala and arrested one person on Thursday.

The arrested was identified as Zain Marva, partner of Roadway Cars, Kozhikode. He was accused of maintaining direct links with smuggling gangs and selling such SUVs across Kerala. Investigators found that Biswajit Das, the alleged kingpin of the racket who sourced many smuggled SUVs from Bhutan, had sold several of these vehicles to Roadway Cars through a Delhi native. Mr. Das, believed to be one of the masterminds, was apprehended near the India–Bhutan border in a coordinated operation on February 22. He was remanded in judicial custody and later brought to Kochi on transit remand for further investigation.

The Customs charged Mr. Marva under provisions of the Customs Act for his alleged involvement in smuggling seven SUVs, valued at over ₹1.50 crore, from Bhutan to Kerala.

In a related development, a Nissan Patrol car that featured in the movie Lucky Bhaskar starring Dulquer Salmaan was seized from Eldo Paul of Signature Cars, Kalamassery. The seizure was based on the reasonable belief that the vehicle had been illegally imported into India through the Bhutan/Nepal borders, a release issued by the Customs here on Friday said.

Earlier this year, the Customs had arrested five suspects—four from Assam and one from West Bengal. Among those taken into custody, with the support of Shillong Customs, was Dipak Patowary, District Transport Officer, Bongaigaon, Assam.

In a related development, the Bongaigaon police also arrested seven persons, including Mr. Patowary and the Joint District Transport Officer, for their alleged involvement in registering 464 vehicles using forged documents at the Bongaigaon RTO after fraudulently showing that most of the vehicles were originally registered in Lakshadweep. These included foreign-made luxury cars and lorries, as well as Indian-made vehicles exported abroad and smuggled back into the country through Bhutan without payment of Customs duty.

The Customs (Preventive) Commissionerate, Kochi, has drawn up a potential list of 200 smuggled vehicles across Kerala. Multiple rackets are suspected to be involved in smuggling vehicles and securing illegal registrations using forged documents. The Customs have so far identified two major networks—one based in Coimbatore and another in Assam. MVD officials are alleged to have colluded with these rackets to tamper with the Parivahan website database.