Bengaluru: Karnataka Transport department officials seized a Rolls Royce Phantom car owned by superstar Amitabh Bachchan. The transport department conducted a special drive against luxury cars near UB City on Vittal Mallya Road and seized 7 luxury cars including Porsche, Land Rover, and Jaguar. They were seized for non-payment of taxes and not carrying relevant documents.
‘The Rolls-Royce Phantom car bearing a Maharashtra registration number was stopped for checking. The driver, who introduced himself as Salman Khan, failed to produce documents and said that his father had bought the car from Bachchan. The car was still in the name of the actor and the current owner had not transferred the car ownership to his name, though it was bought in 2019’, said L Narendra Holkar, Additional Transport Commissioner (Enforcement). Further investigation revealed that the car has been bought by Yusuf Shariff alias D Babu, who runs Umrah Developers.
‘As per rules, vehicles with registration numbers of other states cannot ply beyond 11 months from the date of change of ownership. ‘But the car had exchanged hands in February 2019. It is found that the actor had sold the car for Rs 6 crore and the letter signed by him was produced by Babu. He has been asked to produce all valid documents and further action will be initiated if he fails to produce the documents”, he added.
Also Read: Three gulf countries ban Bollywood film ‘Bell Bottom’ starring Akshay Kumar
As per reports, the Roll Royce car was gifted to Bachchan by filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra in 2007 after their film ‘Ekalavya’s success. Bachchan sold the car in 2019 to D Babu.
It was found that most of the vehicles had no valid insurance and five were registered in Puducherry, where road tax is less. On Monday, owners of three vehicles produced documents and renewed their lapsed insurance.
‘The Supreme Court has repeatedly said that driving a vehicle without insurance is illegal. Most of these vehicles were registered in other states. All impounded cars are now at Nelamangala Regional Transport Office’, said Holkar.
Several luxury car owners register their cars in other states as Karnataka levies highest road tax in the country.
Post Your Comments