Dozens of senior Customs officials are now under the scanner after a judge, dissatisfied with investigations carried out by Directorate of Revenue Intelligence officials, sought a special investigation agency to investigate the smuggling of more than 200 expensive cars in the recent months.u00a0

The matter came to the fore after DRI officials sought the custody of Jung Bahadur Singh Gujral, a member of a car smuggling syndicate. DRI investigations have indicated that more than 200 cars were smuggled into the country using fake documents to evade paying steep taxes. The value of each car is estimated around Rs 1 crore, and the evasion of customs duty would be more than Rs 30 lakh per car.

"It is high time for creating a separate investigating agency," observed Principal Judge T V Nalawde of the City Civil and Sessions Court on January 19, 2009.

The judge, while examining the case, found that some of the accused had managed to evade paying the duty for nearly 200 high-end vehicles. This could not have been done without the involvement of officers in the customs department, observed the court.

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Modus operandi

> Cars are imported in the name of third parties.

> While the imported vehicles are brand new, the declaration claims that the car has been used.

> Invoices are undervalued, and the chassis number is tampered

> Value of accessories installed in the vehicle are also suppressed

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