DRI Mumbai Arrests Bengaluru Businessman in Rs 4.77 Crore Duty Evasion Case
The Mumbai Unit of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) arrested a 25-year-old partner of a Bengaluru-based private company on Friday for allegedly evading anti-dumping duty amounting to approximately Rs 4.77 crore on chemical imports.
According to agency officials, the firm imported consignments of the chemical TCCA by declaring the Country of Origin as Malaysia, whereas investigators suspect the goods were manufactured in China.
The action followed an investigation based on specific intelligence. DRI sources stated that the partnership firm commenced imports of TCCA from a Malaysia-based company after the imposition of anti-dumping duty on the product in March 2025. The firm had earlier been procuring TCCA from China through an associated concern.
Inquiries revealed that the Malaysian company was not a manufacturer of TCCA and was instead engaged in the trading of metal products. Agency officials noted that the Malaysian supplier had not supplied TCCA to any Indian importers prior to the imposition of the anti-dumping duty in March 2025. The nature of the supplier's business and the absence of prior shipments raised doubts regarding the declared origin of the cargo.
According to DRI sources, the investigation showed that the goods imported under contracts with the Malaysian supplier were originally manufactured in China and shipped to Malaysia. Fresh documentation, including a Certificate of Origin, was then arranged in Malaysia before the goods were shipped to India.
DRI officials stated that the arrested person was aware of the anti-dumping duty applicable to Chinese-origin TCCA and knowingly participated in importing the goods with mis-declared origin paperwork to avoid the levy.
Advocate Ravi Hirani, representing the arrested importer, denied the allegations and maintained that the consignments were not from China. Hirani stated that the defence maintains the goods originated from Indonesia and added that his client will establish and prove the true origin of the goods before the appropriate authority.
