Mumbai : Indian Cricketer Hardik Pandya issues his clarification on customs department’s seizure of his expensive watches. On Tuesday he stated that he himself, voluntarily went to the customs counter of the Mumbai airport to declare the items that he brought and pay the requisite customs duty.
Custom officials seized two watches worth ₹5 crore from Pandya when he was returning from Dubai after India was eliminated in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. The officials said that he neither had a bill for the watches nor did he declare them as custom items.
Taking to twitter, Hardik tweeted, that the watches were worth ₹1.5 crore and not ₹5 crore “as per rumours floating around on social media.”
“I had voluntarily declared all the items that I lawfully purchased from Dubai and was ready to pay whatever duties that needed to be paid,” Pandya said in the statement.
— hardik pandya (@hardikpandya7) November 16, 2021
After arriving at the airport, the customs seized 2 watches of Hardik Pandya.
Hardik Pandya also returned home with the team late last night after being knocked out of the ICC tournament. However, after arriving at the airport, the customs seized 2 watches of Hardik Pandya worth Rs 5 crore. Hardik Pandya did not have an invoice for this watch. He also said that he did not give any information about the clocks.
Australia beat New Zealand in the final of the tournament to win the World Cup for the first time. After being knocked out of the tournament, the Indian team returned home late last night. At that time, Customs found 2 watches worth Rs 5 crore at Hardik Padya. But, Hardik does not have the acknowledgment of these watches.
He also did not include these watches in the custom items. As a result, Customs has seized both the watches.
How did these watches come to Hardik Panda, who had a disappointing performance in T20 World Cup? Such a question is presented. So, why Hardik Pandya has not been arrested so far? Even so, a netizen said.
Let us tell you that the BCCI had announced a 16-member T20 team for the series against New Zealand. Many such players got a place in the team, who performed with a bang in the IPL. Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah have been rested.
Venkatesh Iyer, Harshal Patel and Avesh Khan have been included in the team. Apart from this, Rituraj Gaikwad has also got a place in the team. However, former batsman VVS Laxman says that Venkatesh Iyer can prove to be Hardik Pandya’s backup in the team. He said that Venkatesh Iyer can be groomed as an all-rounder.
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