Custom raids on 8 mobile traders in Rajkot, Jamnagar, Morbi

After the seizure of a quantity of foreign mobiles from Mumbai, the probe rally reached Saurashtra: Expensive mobiles smuggled from abroad into Saurashtra and sold cheaply without a bill, raids after complaints of evasion of customs duty

Rajkot, Jamnagar: As many as eight mobile dealers in Rajkot, Jamnagar and Morbi in Saurashtra today were raided by the customs department after it came to light that a large amount of customs duty was being smuggled into Saurashtra without foreign mobile bills. The shops were closed immediately after receiving the information about the raid.

The probe has now reached Saurashtra after about 450 foreign mobiles were seized from a large showroom in Mumbai some time ago without paying duty. After a raid on a well-known mobile vendor in Rajkot some time back, the search operation on Yagnik Road, the city's main thoroughfare and where most of the mobile shops are located, was eased by Jamnagar Customs officials this morning. Customs teams raided three mobile shops including Yash and Vinayak on Yagnik Road and seized bulk literature. According to sources, a series of raids have been launched in the wake of a major scam involving the theft of custom duty by selling cheap mobile phones to consumers without a bill, including Apple.

In Jamnagar, a team from the customs department raided three mobile shops, including two in Lemda Lane area and one on Amber Cinema Road, and seized some literature, including a bill. In addition, a search operation was conducted in Morbi for two mobile vendors. Mobile shops in Rajkot, Jamnagar and Morbi were reportedly raided today and other areas in the three cities were also shut down immediately. It has come out that millions of customs duty evaders have been caught in today's raid but no details have been released by the customs department.