Customs raids on luxurious autos: Actor Amit Chakkalakkalsays solely considered one of seven seized vehicles belongs to him

Malayalam actor Amit Chakkalakkal, whose residence was raided by the Customs division a day in the past in reference to the alleged smuggling of high-end luxurious autos, on Wednesday (September 24, 2025) mentioned solely considered one of his vehicles was seized and the remainder being attributed to him belonged to others.

The actor instructed reporters in Kochi that his over 20-year-old second-hand Land Cruiser, which he had been utilizing for the final 5 years, was the one car that belonged to him.

“The rest of the high-end cars seized from my residence and my workshop belonged to others who had brought them to me for renovation or repairs. So, of the total seven vehicles seized from my premises, only one was mine,” he clarified.

He additionally mentioned the Customs division in November 2024 had issued summons to him with respect to those autos and he had supplied all of the associated paperwork again then and thereafter, no different steps have been taken by the company.

“Then, yesterday (Tuesday) they came for the search and I again provided them with all the documents. Now, they have to verify the genuineness of the documents,” he mentioned.

Officials of the Customs Preventive division had on Tuesday carried out raids at a number of places throughout Kerala to trace down, determine and seize high-end luxurious autos introduced illegally to India from Bhutan with solid paperwork which have seals of the Army and the US Embassy.

Searches have been carried out at round 30 places, together with on the residences of film stars Prithviraj Sukumaran, Dulquer Salmaan and Mr. Chakkalakkal, throughout the State and 36 high-end luxurious vehicles have been seized.

Operation Numkhor

The raids have been codenamed ‘Operation Numkhor’ as ‘Numkhor’ within the Bhutanese language means ‘car’.

The division had mentioned that most of the autos, introduced illegally to India and bought within the nation, have been additionally used to smuggle gold and medicines and circumstances have been lodged in reference to that.

It additionally mentioned that their preliminary probe revealed varied different illegalities similar to earnings tax and GST evasion in addition to cash laundering in reference to the smuggled autos.

Besides that, it was additionally trying into whether or not the funds from such illegalities have been used for terrorist actions, the division had mentioned.