DRI arrests promoter of Kolkata-based group for allegedly evading customs duty of Rs 4.5 cr

The DRI has arrested a promoter of a Kolkata-based firm for allegedly evading customs duty of Rs 4.5 crore on import of Chinese-origin mobile phones and laptops, an official statement issued on Wednesday said.

"The modus operandi adopted by the unscrupulous importer was to suppress the actual retail sale price (RSP) of the imported laptops and mobile phones, and evade payment of appropriate countervailing duty," the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) said in the statement.

It said Sunil Kumar Patwari, director of Reach Infocom Technology Pvt Ltd, Kolkata, was arrested on Tuesday in connection with an ongoing investigation into alleged evasion of customs duty amounting to Rs 4.5 crore, leviable on the imported Chinese-origin mobile phones and laptops.

He has been remanded to judicial custody till December 10, 2019, the DRI said.

An email sent to the firm did not elicit any response.

"M/s Reach Infocom Technology Pvt Ltd is one of the group companies of Kolkata-based Rashmi Group, owned by Sajjan Kumar Patwari and his son Sunil Kumar Patwari. Rashmi Group companies have been investigated in the past by the Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence (now DGGI) for alleged evasion of central excise duty by resorting to clandestine clearance of iron and steel products," the probe agency said.

The group is also under investigation by the CBI for alleged evasion of railway freight on iron ore, it added.