CBI arrests seven persons including five Superintendents of Customs for misusing provision under Customs Act

New Delhi [India], March 16 : The Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested five Superintendents of Customs and two Custom House Agents (CHAs) in an ongoing investigation of six separate cases.

The arrested persons were identified as Kumar Alok, Keshav Pandhi, Hemant Gethe, Brijesh Kumar, and Dinesh Kumar. All are Superintendents of Customs. The other two persons who were also arrested have been identified as Deepak Parekh and Ashish Kamdar. They were CHA (private persons).

CBI has registered six separate cases against then six Superintendents of Customs, Mumbai; two CHAs, and other unknown persons on the allegations that the said public servants entered into conspiracy with CHAs at different times during their posting at UB Centre, Jawaharlal Nehru Customs House and misused the provision of "Transfer of Residence" under the Customs Act.

It was alleged that the said syndicate used the passports of various persons, who had stayed abroad for more than two years especially in Gulf countries to import various items including household items, electronic items, and other unknown items by firstly undervaluing the goods and further concealing some other undeclared items along with the other declared items.

It was further alleged that the goods so imported should have been ideally imported for the person whose passport was declared before the Customs but the goods were actually imported for many other persons settled abroad and still living abroad. The passport holder was allegedly given Rs 15,000 for allowing his passport to be used.

It was also alleged that the said modus-operandi was adopted by the syndicate in connivance with the Customs officers, who were involved in examining/clearing and giving 'out of charge' of the related consignments. The kickbacks allegedly paid to these Customs officers were around Rs 2.38 crore in lieu of clearing of such illegal consignments.

Searches were conducted at 19 places in the premises of the accused and their accomplices situated at Mumbai, Delhi, Ghaziabad, Jaipur, Motihari (Bihar), Kurukshetra & Rohtak which led to the recovery of various incriminating documents/articles.

The arrested accused were produced on Thursday before the Special Judge, CBI Cases at Alibagh, District Raigarh (Maharashtra), and were remanded to five days of police custody.