18 arrested for evading octroi duty in Mumbai

Police today claimed to have busted a racket which smuggled cloth into the city limits after evading about Rs20lakh of octroi duty with the arrest of 18 persons.

Acting on a tip-off, a tempo and a car in which 14 accused were travelling was stopped on P Demello Road in MRA Marg area in South Mumbai.

"We have found cloth worth Rs15crore but when enquired, the accused were unable to give proper answers. Then the cloth, which was brought here from Bhiwandi in neighbouring Thane district, was seized. There were no duty payment receipts," Deputy Police Commissioner Vishwas Nagnre Patil said.

In a similar case, on October 1 a tempo in which four persons were travelling was stopped by police in MRA Marg area. "Cloth worth Rs4.38crore was recovered from them, who were carrying bogus octroi receipts," Patil said.

Octroi duty to the tune of Rs20lakh might have been evaded by the accused, he said adding that further investigations were on to find the mastermind behind the crime.