Officials of Customs Preventive Wing and Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Thursday raided the duty-free shop in the international terminal of the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport following complaints that foreign liquor was being sold to non-flyers violating norms.
The operation
The staff of the duty-free shop allegedly collect the passport number of flyers who come for shopping and use the number for selling liquor at exorbitant rates to outsiders.
Assault alleged
The Customs Department asked duty-free shop manager Madanan to appear for questioning in the evening. The manager alleged that he was physically assaulted by Customs Inspector Vivek. According to the Customs Department, the manager suffered bruises while he tried to give them the slip while questioning.
Following the incident, the functioning of the shop, leased out by the Airport Authority of India (AAI), was suspended by Customs Department.
The Valiathura police said they would register a case in connection with the alleged assault on the basis of the complaint.
Preliminary assessment by the Customs Department found that irregularities to the tune of ₹2 crore had been committed in the shop managed by Plus Max Group. A raid was carried out simultaneously on the office of the group at Namakkal in Tamil Nadu.
