Thiruvananthapuram: Officials of two luxury car shops in Bangalore and Delhi are likely to be implicated for facilitating vehicle registrations in Puducherry using fake address proofs as film star Fahadh Faasil blamed them for taking the route to evade heavy taxation back home. He was learnt to have told a Crime Branch team probing the case on Monday that he was unaware of the registration of his vehicles using fake documents as it was done by the dealers and their agents.
His two luxury cars were registered in Puducherry, one in 2015 and the other in 2016. He maintained that the dealers and agents, who were based in Delhi and Bangalore, made all arrangements. He was entirely in the dark about the use of fake address proofs. The actor was also learnt to have told the investigators that he had not signed any papers in this regard and the signatures on the documents submitted for registering with fake address were fabricated. He also produced details of the payments made to the dealers.
Fahad, who already paid Rs 19 lakh as tax and penalty at Alappuzha regional transport office last month for one of his cars, also expressed willingness to pay the tax and penalty for the other car also, said sources. Considering his statement, the Crime Branch team decided to issue notices to the dealers and agents. Several others caught up in a legal tangle over registering luxury cars in Puducherry similarly had also alleged that the dealers and agents were prompting them to do so.
A case was already registered against a luxury car dealer in Kochi in this connection. Meanwhile, actor Amala Paul is also likely to appear before the Crime Branch soon. A case was registered against her in connection with the registration of her S-class Benz in Puducherry allegedly using fake documents. BJP’s celebrity Rajya Sabha member Suresh Gopi was quizzed last week in a similar case of tax evasion through the Puducherry route.
