The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has unearthed a scam in which a multi-crore consignment containing electronic items were allegedly replaced with cheap plastic items to evade Customs duty.
Official sources said that a consignment containing five containers full of imported electronic goods worth about Rs 5 crore had reached the Inland Container Depot (ICD) in Tughlakabad in the national capital earlier this year.
Due to some reasons, which could not be ascertained, the shipment was put on hold. However, the consignment was recently moved from the ICD in Tughlakabad to the one in Haryana's Kundli, where the electronic items were allegedly replaced with "cheap" plastic goods. This, sources said, was done within the ICD premises of Kundli by tampering with the original seals of the containers.
The DRI, which had come to know of the racket, have arrested three people in this connection, including the person who had imported the consignment.
Sources said the ICD, Kundli did not have the facility of Electronic Data Interchanger (EDI), an electronic system for clearance which gives all background details of a consignment, and hence everything was done manually.
Sources said while it is normal for containers to be moved from one ICD to another for clearance in a particular region, it is unusual for them to be moved for clearance so close even when one of the ICDs had put it on hold.
Sources said the DRI suspects that some customs officials could also be involved in this racket. DRI sleuths have already questioned the officials who were part of the clearance process.
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They said the DRI is also looking at how many consignments were transferred to Kundli from Tughlakabad ICD earlier.
Sources said the lack of EDI system at certain ports was a major roadblock in containing such activities.