Kochi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has intensified its probe into the Bhutan vehicle smuggling case, directing the owners of luxury cars seized in the investigation to furnish detailed financial records, including income tax returns and bank statements. Among those who received notices is Malayalam actor Amith Chakkalakkal, whose house was also raided by the ED earlier. 

According to Chakkalakkal, the ED has asked each vehicle owner to appear on specified dates and submit documents covering the past five years. “After the ED raids, the officers served notices asking all vehicle owners to produce their bank statements and income tax return proofs for the last five years as part of the ongoing investigation. They have given individual dates for submission. I will be submitting mine in the coming days,” Chakkalakkal told Onmanorama. 

The case relates to the illegal import of high-end vehicles from Bhutan, which were allegedly brought into India using forged documents, registered under false credentials, and later sold. The Customs Preventive wing had earlier unearthed the racket in an investigation codenamed ‘Operation Numkhor’, which led to the current probe by the ED. 

In connection with the case, the ED had earlier conducted searches at 17 locations across Kerala, including the residences of prominent actors Prithviraj Sukumaran, Dulquer Salmaan, and Chakkalakkal. 

The central agency is probing whether money laundering or violations under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) took place in the course of these vehicle imports and subsequent sales. Officials suspect that certain transactions linked to the purchase and transfer of these vehicles involved illegal financial dealings. 

The investigation now focuses on identifying the chain of transactions, from the initial sellers and middlemen to the eventual buyers, to determine if proceeds of crime were laundered through the smuggling and sale of the vehicles.