By Two days after his IPL team, Mumbai Indians, retained the high-profile Twenty20 league’s title in the UAE, allrounder Krunal Pandya was stopped and questioned at the Mumbai airport Thursday by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) for allegedly trying to bring in undeclared diamond-studded and other luxury watches.
That Pandya, 29, was stopped on the basis of a tip-off and found to allegedly have in possession two diamond-studded Audemars Piguet and two Rolex models that were not declared to Customs. The total value of the watches is estimated to be about Rs 1 crore, they said.
Pandya was questioned for about three hours, after the team arrived around 4.30 pm on a chartered flight, and allowed to leave after the watches were confiscated, sources said.
“The case and the watches have been handed over to the Customs unit at the Mumbai airport. The player will have to pay the duty and a fine if he wishes to take possession of the watches,” sources said.
Imported luxury watches can attract duty of up to 38.5 per cent of value that is in excess of the duty free allowance of Rs 35,000, in this case.
Krunal Pandya is the elder brother of India allrounder Hardik Pandya. He has played 18 T20 Internationals for India.
