The vehicles owned by actors Suresh Gopi and Fahad Faasil, and the accused in the gold smuggling case Karat Faisal, have been involved in more than 10 traffic violations.Thiruvananthapuram: Luxury vehicles that were registered in Puducherry to evade tax have broken traffic rules more than 7,500 times in Kerala, the motor vehicles department has found.
Transport commissioner Anil Kanth has issued orders to cancel licenses of the car owners or those who were driving the cars at the time of committing violations.
Following this, the department is planning to send show-cause notices to them. The figure came to light when the motor vehicles department scrutinized traffic violations committed in the past three years by luxury cars that have been registered in Puducherry.
More than 1,500 cars were registered in Puducherry during this period, according to the data with the department. As per crime branch data, in the past 10 years, more than 7,000 cars had been registered in Puducherry.
The vehicles owned by actors Suresh Gopi and Fahad Faasil, and the accused in the gold smuggling case Karat Faisal, in whose car CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan traveled during the 'Janajagratha Yatra', have been involved in more than 10 traffic violations, officers said. The speed camera photographs of these cars speeding on national highways are with the department. Some of them have broken traffic rules more than 50 times.
Notices returned
Notices containing details like the photograph of the speeding car, the date and time were sent to the Puducherry addresses to collect fine. Since they were fake addresses, all the notices have returned. Now, the department plans to send notices to the owners' Kerala addresses.
If the fine is not paid, their licenses will be suspended. If the owner was not driving the vehicle at the time of traffic violation, the drivers' addresses should be given to the department.
Vehicles to be seized
The motor vehicles department has obtained complete details of 35 cars that were bought in Kerala and registered in Puducherry using fake addresses. They have been sent notices asking them to pay the tax evaded and fine, and register their vehicles in Kerala.
Those complying with the directives will be spared from further proceedings. Otherwise, cases will be handed over to the crime branch. Senior officers have also issued orders to confiscate the vehicles if they are found plying on roads in Kerala.
Car dealer in a spot
A car dealer in the state capital who was facilitating the registration of a luxury vehicle in Puducherry to evade tax has landed in trouble.
The case came to light when the motor vehicles department caught a luxury vehicle with 'for registration' sticker on it in the city. The owner of the vehicle told cops that when they went to buy the car, the dealer's manager told them that they can help them register the car in Puducherry.
The car's cost is Rs 1.10 crore. If it is registered in Kerala the owner will have to pay Rs 22 lakh as tax, but if they choose to register in Puducherry, the tax amount will come to only Rs 2.75 lakh. The dealer promised them to get the car registered in Puducherry.
The car owner told the cops that he has deposited the required Rs 2.75 lakh in the manager's bank account. From this, Rs 1 lakh was for the tax to be paid for Puducherry registration and Rs 20,000 was the commission for the middleman.
The department officials suspect that the remaining Rs 1,50,000 has been swindled by the dealer's manager. The department will be sending notices to the dealer and the manager soon. Their bank accounts too be scrutinized. If it is proved that the vehicle has been registered in Puducherry, the dealer's trade certificate will be cancelled, senior officers said.
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