THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the motor vehicles department and crime branch tightening their grip on Puducherry registered vehicles owned by Keralites, more vehicle owners are showing willingness to pay tax in the state. Actor Fahad Fazil was the first to pay the tax of Rs 17.68 lakh at Alappuzha regional transport office for his Puducherry registered luxury vehicle. Afterwards, a good number of owners served notice by the MVD came forward to pay tax. In Ernakulam, where 65 notices were served by the MVD, around 10 persons have expressed willingness to pay the tax.
In Malappuram, where 49 notices were issued, eight persons have shown willingness to pay the fine. In Thiruvananthapuram, two persons have already paid the tax and many had expressed willingness to pay up. “A good number of vehicle owners have already expressed willingness to pay tax. But many sought time for arranging cash as well as getting no-objection-certificate from Pondicherry to re-register their vehicles in Kerala,” a transport department official said.
Meanwhile, Thiruvananthapuram regional transport officer has sought more details from actor-turned Rajya Sabha MP Suresh Gopi on the address in Pondicherry in which his premium luxury SUV was registered. "The MP has already furnished some details. But we need to examine the original records and also require some more clarifications before arriving at a conclusion," said an official.
The Crime Branch has already registered three cases in connection with the scam. While two cases were against Fahad Fazil and actor Amala Paul, another case was against a luxury car dealer in Kochi. A crime branch team is camping in Puducherry as part of the probe. MVD sources said that in most cases, it was either the dealers or the agents associated with them who prompt customers to register vehicles in Puducherry using fake address to evade taxes. “The agents even used to cite examples of prominent persons using such luxury vehicles to convince the customers,” said an MVD official.
