Bollywood Stars and Impounded Cars

In a dusty compound in Mumbai are some of the most expensive vehicles in the country, and it’s no showroom.

For most of its existence, the lane behind the Income Tax office in Churchgate, Mumbai’s southern end, wouldn’t have got a second glance. In September 2006, all that changed. That month, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) shifted its office here and what was once a nondescript narrow road, has since become home to some of the most expensive vehicles in the country.

At present, in the compound of the four-storeyed DRI building, you can see an Audi, a Lamborghini, a Range Rover, a Mercedes, a Lexus and high-end motorcycles, which include a Harley Davidson, a Suzuki Hayabusa, a Bandit Suzuki, a Yamaha RI, an all-terrain dirt bike and a Suzuki 656 scooter.

All of them were imported and sold in violation of the rules. Often, when the compound is full, the vehicles spill over on to the lane. A vanity van imported by Haren Choksi, dealer of cars for celebrities, was parked in the street for a long time because at a mammoth 50-feet length, there was just no space for the silver-grey vehicle in the compound.

“This place has become so exciting,” says a paanwala who has a shop close to the agency office. “I have never seen such a fleet of vehicles.”  It is regular to see Bollywood stars and well known businessmen accused in DRI cases here. Chauffeurs, shopkeepers, security guards and a host of others eagerly hang around the building to see them. While the officials try to keep it secret, when celebrities are called in for questioning, there is inevitably a news leak and a crowd. Some stars even oblige by signing autographs. Visitors to the DRI office have included actors Sushmita Sen, Sanjay Dutt, Suniel Shetty, businessman Avinash Bhosale and others.

The vehicles stand covered in dusty tarpaulin sheets. DRI officials refuse to reveal the identity of those for whom these vehicles were imported. A source, however, says, “Many of them are meant for Bollywood A-listers.”

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