Mumbai, Nov 16: Cricketer Hardik Pandya has issued a clarification pertaining to the reports of customs officials seizing two wrist watches worth Rs 5 crore after he landed in the Mumbai Airport from Dubai on Monday.
In a statement, shared on Twitter, Pandya claimed that he “voluntarily went to the Mumbai airport customs counter to declare the items brought by him and pay the requisite customs duty.
He added, “Wrong perceptions have been floating around on social media regarding my declaration to customs at Mumbai airport, and I would like to clarify about what transpired.
I had voluntarily declared all the items that I’d lawfully purchased from Dubai and was ready to pay whatever duties that needed to be paid. As a matter of fact, the customs department had asked for all purchase documents which were submitted; however customs is doing proper valuation for duty which I’ve already confirmed to pay, [sic]” he said.
According to him, the cost of the watch is Rs 1.5 and not Rs 5 crore as reported by the media.
He ended on the note that he is co-operating with the government agencies as a “law-abiding citizen.” The cricketer claimed, “I’m a law-abiding citizen of the country and I respect all government agencies. I’ve received all the cooperation from the Mumbai customs department and I’ve assured my full cooperation to them and will provide them with whatever legitimate documents they need to get this matter cleared. All allegations against me of crossing any legal boundaries are totally unfounded.”
Earlier, reports claimed that the watches were seized as he did not have the bill receipt of the watches.
As per The Times of India, the cricketer had claimed that he pre-owned the watches but the serial number did not match, forcing which the officials to detain the two watches – Patek Philippe. The new watch cost Rs 5 crore.
However, Hardik Pandya declared the price of the two watches as Rs 1.8 crore and Rs 40 lakh, respectively.
The cricketer with other teammates returned to Mumbai after kicking out of the T20 World Cup in the league stages. The Men in Blue had lost their first two matches against Pakistan and New Zealand, which virtually ended their journey although India won the remaining matches.
