Sunjay Dutt

Mumbai, Oct. 30: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence today took possession of a Porsche used by actor Sunjay Dutt, as part of its crackdown on a Delhi-based importer who has supplied cars to the rich and the famous without paying customs duty.

Dutt’s secretary Kaleem drove the sports utility vehicle (SUV) to the directorate headquarters at Ballard Estate around 12.30 pm. The actor is in Tanzania on a vacation with daughter Trishala.

“Sunjayji cannot be contacted in Tanzania. So I have been interacting with the DRI officials who told us that they require the custody of the Porsche. Dutt has been using the car for about a year now, but it is not in his name. The car was given to him by the Delhi-based company, Vacation Travels and Tours,” Kaleem said.

The Porsche is among over 55 expensive foreign cars imported by Sanjay Bhandari, the owner of Vacation Travels and Tours, without paying customs duty.

Directorate officials in Delhi had seized Suniel Shetty’s SUV ? a Hummer ? earlier this week and a Landcruiser owned by former Bengal chief minister Jyoti Basu’s son Chandan.

The directorate has accused Bhandari, who runs his company from a tiny basement office in Delhi’s Safdarjung Enclave, of exploiting loopholes in import-export schemes to evade customs duty.

A 105 per cent duty is levied on imported cars, pushing up the cost of a vehicle by several lakh rupees.

The prices of SUVs like Hummer and Porsche, which cost around Rs 30 lakh in the US, become almost double if duties are paid.

To hoodwink the law, some people tie up with entities like hotels and travel companies to get the cars.

Sunjay is likely to be questioned by the directorate after he returns on November 14.

The controversy over his Porsche comes at a wrong time for the actor, whose sister Priya is set to contest the Lok Sabha byelection from the Mumbai North West constituency on November 19.