Kolkata Oil Trader Arrested For Evading Rs. 46 Crore Customs Duty

  KOLKATA: An oil trader from Kolkata was on Wednesday arrested from Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh by officials from the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) for evading customs duty worth Rs. 46 crore.

The trader is being brought to Kolkata on transit remand, DRI sources said.

A DRI source told PTI that the trader used to evade customs duty by importing edible oil from Indonesia and Malaysia and re-routing them through Bangladesh to get the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) benefits, which pertains to imports from any SAARC country.

The source said that since Bangladesh does not produce edible oil, it came to the notice of DRI officials and the trader was subsequently warned to pay up duty or face action.

The trader did not pay heed to the DRI warning and was arrested on Wednesday, the sources said.