Sushmita in trouble with law

Officials of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized Bollywood actress Sushmita Sen's imported Toyota Land Cruiser, which she had bought in May 2005.

DRI officials said that the car would be returned to the actress after she coughed up Rs.20 lakhs as customs duty. The car has been valued at Rs.56 lakhs.

DRI sources further informed that the luxury car imported with accompanying documents allegedly stated the date of manufacture as December 1998 while the actual date of manufacture was 2003.

The sources said that both the importer and the broker had fudged the chassis number of the vehicle, which was brought under the transfer of residence (TR) scheme that mandates that the vehicle has to be used by the importer for two years before being further sold off.

DRI sources notified that they had sought the original manufacturing information from the manufacturer Toyota to ascertain the actual date of manufacture and conducted scrutiny of the vehicle to confirm that it was manufactured in 2003.

Sen, who purchased the car from dealer Haren Choksi, was not available for comment.