''₹1.5 crore, not ₹5 crore'' - Hardik Pandya denies reports of confiscated watches at the Mumbai airport
Hardik Pandya has rebutted reports that claims two wrist watches worth five crore were confiscated from him at the Mumbai airport upon his arrival from Dubai.
The 28-year-old has clarified that he voluntarily approached the airport customs counter to declare the items brought by him and pay for the requisite duty. Hardik further clarified that the actual value of watches is one-and-a-half crores and not five crores, as floated by the media.
A report by ABP on Monday had said that two of Hardik Pandya's watches had been seized by customs officials. The reason was that the stylish all-rounder could not produce the invoices for the watches. He also didn't declare these watches as custom items when asked by customs officers at Mumbai airport.
Hardik Pandya on Tuesday morning took to his Twitter account to deny all the 'wrong perceptions'. The Gujarat-born cricketer twitted that he himself walked to customs to pay duty on the watches he bought from Dubai.
While confirming that he submitted all the required purchase documents to the customs department, Pandya cited that he is a law-abiding citizen of the country. You can read Hardik Pandya's statement below:
https://t.co/k9Qv0UnmyS
Hardik Pandya's Twitter statement
Denying the charges, the fast bowling all-rounder stated that:
"I voluntarily went to Mumbai airport customs counter to declare the items brought by me and pay the requisite customs duty. 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."
Pandya divulged that he had 'lawfully' purchased all the articles and was ready to pay whatever duties that needed to be paid.
"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," he said.
The flamboyant all-rounder then concluded his affirmation by verifying that the actual cost of the watch is approximately ₹1.5 crores and not five crores. He confirmed that:
"The cost of the watch is approximately ₹ 1.5 crore and not ₹ 5 crore as per the rumors floating around on social media. 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."
Hardik Pandya was returning from Dubai following India's forgettable campaign at the T20 World Cup.