CHENNAI: Investigating the illegal import of green peas at Chennai port last month, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has stumbled upon the alleged role played by the brother of an arrested top IRS officer who was identified as the mastermind behind the Rs 2 crore scam.
Sources said that DRI is probing the role of Arun, brother of then additional commissioner (import) M Sathishkumar, who was among the five customs officers arrested in the case. DRI believes that Arun, who is a customs house agent (CHA), influenced the postings of superintendent Shiv Kashyap and appraiser Nitish Kumar by lobbying on their behalf with his brother. Shiv Kashyap, Nitish, examiner Pavan Kalyan and superintendent Pavan Kalyan Dongre are the other officers arrested in the scam.
In addition, DRI has also dug up evidence which indicates that Arun and Sathishkumar allegedly cleared many imported goods of “dubious nature”, sources said.
The IRS officer has denied his involvement in the scam and rejected allegations of favouritism shown to his brother during questioning by DRI.
Apart from the customs officers, DRI has arrested Delhi-based importer Krithika Malhotra, her associate Aminul Haque and agent E Balaji for the “outright” smuggling of 109 tonnes of green peas worth Rs 2.19 crore from Jebel Ali in UAE to Chennai. Green peas can be imported only through the Kolkata port at a minimum import price (MIP) as per existing policy of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT).
Explaining why Sathishkumar was identified as the mastermind, sources said that the officer in October 2024 had sought Kashyap’s assistance on behalf of Malhotra to import green peas through Chennai Port. There is evidence of the IRS officer and the importer meeting multiple times in Delhi and Chennai, sources said, adding that Malhotra was in touch with Sathishkumar and Kashyap after the shipment was loaded in UAE and on the day of the seizure. There is also evidence of bribe payments made to lower-level customs officers for clearing the consignment.
The customs officers had instructed the importers and their agent to load the yellow legumes cargo in the front portion of the container and conceal green peas behind to avoid scrutiny during examination.