A Chennai Court has sent the Additional Commissioner of Customs, M. Sathishkumar, till February 25 for his alleged role in a ₹2 crore green peas import fraud.
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) arrested him on Wednesday, exposing a major smuggling racket that has rocked the city’s customs department.
Top Official Caught in Customs Conspiracy
M. Sathishkumar, a 2010-batch IRS officer, was nabbed on Wednesday evening, with sources revealing that he was the mastermind behind the scam. His residence in the high-profile TAISHA Colony in Virugambakkam—a neighborhood home to elite IAS and IPS officers—was raided on Sunday, sending shockwaves through bureaucratic circles.
Following his arrest, Sathishkumar was swiftly transferred out of the export commissionerate and now faces likely suspension, sources said. He is the fourth Customs official to be arrested in the case, following the detention of superintendent Shiv Kashyap, appraising officer Nitish Kumar, and examiner Manish.
A High-Stakes Smuggling Racket
The scandal doesn’t stop at Customs officials— a Customs House Agent (CHA) and a Delhi-based importer have also been taken into custody under Section 135 of the Customs Act for misdeclaring goods.
The DRI probe uncovered a devious scheme where officers colluded with the importer to smuggle green peas from Canada via Dubai’s Jebel Ali port, disguising them as yellow legumes. Why the deception? Because green peas import regulations are extremely strict—as per DGFT policies, they can only enter India through Kolkata seaport and must meet a minimum import price (MIP) of ₹200 per kg.
The fraudulent operation unraveled when the DRI seized five containers packed with nearly 100 tonnes of green peas, valued at ₹2 crore.
With high-ranking officials now behind bars and investigations intensifying, the case has left Chennai’s bureaucratic corridors buzzing with speculation—how deep does the rot go?
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