Dulquer Salmaan refuses to comment amid raids on his, father Mammootty’s premises by ED in luxury car smuggling case

Besides Dulquer Salmaan's residences in Chennai and Kochi, his father Mammootty's long-time home, popularly known as "Mammootty House," was also raided by the Enforcement Directorate officials.

By: Entertainment Desk

Kochi | Updated: October 8, 2025 06:49 PM IST

3 min read

Besides Dulquer Salmaan's residences in Chennai and Kochi, his father Mammootty's long-time home, popularly known as "Mammootty House," was also raided by the Enforcement Directorate officials.

Malayalam megastar Mammootty with his son, actor-producer Dulquer Salmaan. (Credit: Instagram/@dqsalmaan)

Actor Dulquer Salmaan refused comment as he was spotted at the Kochi airport on Wednesday amid Enforcement Directorate raids on premises linked with him and his father Mammootty. As per reports, Dulquer has been summoned by ED but the actor refused to answer any of the reporter’s questions. A fortnight after the Customs and Central Excise Department in Kerala conducted searches on their premises, actors Prithviraj Sukumaran and Dulquer again faced official heat as the ED raided locations linked to them on Wednesday, October 8, in connection with an ongoing investigation against an alleged luxury car smuggling racket. The raids were carried out at about 17 locations across Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Besides Dulquer’s residences on Greams Road in Chennai and Kadavanthra in Kochi, his father Mammootty’s long-time home, popularly known as “Mammootty House” in Panampilly Nagar, was also raided by officials during the day. Among the premises searched were also those linked to actor Amit Chakkalackal, whose name had cropped up last time.

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The latest development comes a day after Dulquer received relief from the Kerala High Court, which allowed him to file an application for the provisional release of his 2004 Land Rover Defender that was seized by Customs last month as part of “Operation Numkhor.” The court also directed the agency to decide on the plea within one week.

During the hearing, the actor claimed that Customs officials refused to examine the vehicle’s documents provided to them and carried out the seizure in a “hasty” and “arbitrary” manner. Questioning the agency’s “reason to believe” for the seizure, the HC noted the lack of concrete evidence and the vehicle’s long-standing legal registration and use in India for its ruling.

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Meanwhile, in a press release on Wednesday, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) stated they have found out that a Coimbatore-based network was behind the smuggling operation. The network is suspected of using forged documents, falsely attributed to the Indian Army, the US Embassy, and the Ministry of External Affairs, to fraudulently register vehicles with Regional Transport Offices (RTOs) in remote states like Arunachal Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh. The vehicles — which included models such as Land Cruisers, Defenders and Maseratis — were then sold below market value to affluent buyers, including film celebrities. The ED has identified apparent violations of Sections 3, 4, and 8 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), related to illegal foreign exchange dealings and transactions routed through hawala networks.

The actors have yet to respond to the matter. Both Prithviraj Sukumaran and Dulquer Salmaan are major automobile enthusiasts and boast extensive collections of cars that include both vintage and high-end models. In an old interview, Prithviraj had revealed that Dulquer “has around 50 to 60 cars.” While Prithviraj was last seen in the Bollywood action thriller Sarzameen, Dulquer’s most recent lead role appearance was in the Telugu crime drama Lucky Baskhar. Both actors will next be seen in Vilayath Buddha and Kaantha, respectively.

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