Hyderabad-based luxury car dealer Basharat Khan was arrested in Gujarat on Thursday for his alleged role in a Rs100 crore customs duty evasion racket involving the illegal import of high-end vehicles.
Khan, the owner of the ‘Car Lounge’ showroom, is accused of masterminding a scheme that involved undervaluing imported luxury cars—often at nearly 50% below their actual value—using fake documents and forged invoices, according to the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI).
Investigations revealed that the vehicles were originally sourced from the United States and Japan, then routed through Dubai or Sri Lanka. There, they were converted from left-hand drive to right-hand drive before being brought into India using counterfeit import documentation.
So far, officials have traced 30 illegally imported luxury vehicles, including models such as the Rolls-Royce, Hummer EV, Cadillac Escalade, Lexus, Toyota Land Cruiser, and Lincoln Navigator.
Khan himself was directly linked to the import of eight such vehicles, leading to a loss of over Rs7 crore in customs duty. His luxury showroom also had an in-house workshop where these vehicles were further modified.
Authorities also identified Dr. Ahmed, Khan’s associate, as a key accomplice who stored many of the smuggled cars at his farmhouse. The illegal network operated across multiple Indian cities including Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, and Delhi.
Officials noted that Khan’s rise in business was fueled by his connections with several influential political figures, many of whom reportedly purchased vehicles in cash to avoid taxes.
Basharat Khan has been placed under judicial custody, and further investigations are ongoing to trace the extent of the smuggling network and identify other involved parties.
