KOCHI: Unearthing irregularities running into crores of rupees, the CBI has filed cases against eight people, including seven senior Customs officials at the Thiruvananthapuram Airport, for major Customs duty evasion.The CBI filed an FIR against seven officials, including Customs Joint Commissioner Sofia M Joy, Assistant Commissioner Rose Chandran, four superintendents Syam Sundar, Michael, Hari and another and inspector Sivakumar, along with Sugunan, the customs clearing agent. The FIR was filed at the CBI Special Court in Ernakulam.The cases were registered after a CBI team carried out a surprise raid on the airport on Saturday.During the raid that lasted for about 20 hours, huge sums of unaccounted money were seized from some of the officials. The probe team also seized various documents, including receipts during the raid. The CBI also conducted raids on the residences of some of the top Customs officials at the airport.The preliminary investigation into the case was carried out by a CBI team led by CBI Kochi unit SP S Shiny. The probe was later handed over to the CBI Thiruvananthapuram unit.A number of unknown officials at the cargo wing at Thiruvananthapuram airport and passport agents are currently under the scanner. According to the CBI officials, tax evasion was mainly on unaccompanied baggage coming from abroad. “Huge irregularities were found in customs duty collection. During the probe, we found that the officials used passports from agents to commit these irregularities. They were given around Rs 2,000 to 2,500.Since the pieces of baggage are being brought not for personal purpose, the customs duty will be higher. The officials take higher amount from the customers, but remit only a small amount. We have found that each official was getting around Rs 2 lakh a week,” an official said.
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