36 luxury cars seized during raids in Kerala; homes of superstars Prithviraj Sukumaran and Dulquer Salmaan searched:

News Topical, Digital Desk : Customs officials on Tuesday raided various locations in Kerala and seized luxury cars illegally imported from Bhutan with fake Army and US Embassy documents.

Raids were conducted at around 30 locations.

Customs Preventive Commissioner T. Tiju said raids were conducted at about 30 locations, including the residences of film stars Prithviraj Sukumaran, Dulquer Salmaan, and Amit Chakkalakkal. Thirty-six luxury cars were seized.

He said the actions were carried out under "Operation Numkhor." Many of the cars were illegally brought into India and sold. They were also used to smuggle gold and narcotics.

"If they can smuggle cars, gold, and drugs this way, they can bring in anything. Therefore, this poses a major threat to the country's national and economic security," he said.

Cases of GST evasion as well as money laundering

Preliminary investigations have also revealed that they face charges of income tax and GST evasion, as well as money laundering. He said it is also being investigated whether the funds obtained from these illegal activities were used for terrorist activities.

Numkhor means vehicle in Bhutanese language.

Tiju explained that Numkhor means vehicle in Bhutanese. The raids were carried out simultaneously in Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode, and Malappuram. He said these cars were either completely dismantled or entered India in containers. These cars were registered in various locations through fake documents, which included forged names and seals of the Indian Army and foreign embassies.