Indian cricketer Hardik Pandya denied the refuted reports that claimed two wristwatches worth ₹ 5 crores were seized from him at the Mumbai airport on his return from Dubai. He also says that only one watch worth ₹ 1.5 crores had been taken for “proper valuation”.
Hardik Pandya’s watches were seized at Airport
The incident took place when team Virat Kohli led India returned from Dubai after staging unwanted records in ICC T20 World Cup 2021. Team India has been eliminated from the tournament after where Australia lifts their maiden ICC T20 WC.
The Mumbai Indians’ all-rounder allegedly did not have invoices for the watches, nor had he declared these watches as customs items. As a consequence, the customs officials confiscated his watches.
Hardik Denied the Alleged Report
Denying the charges, Hardik Pandya posted a statement on Twitter saying, “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 the proper valuation for duty which I’ve already confirmed to pay,” he said.
According to GQ India, the watch sports 32 baguette-cut emeralds and is entirely forged in platinum. The 5711 has emeralds serving as hour markers and gets a self-winding automatic movement.
“The cost of the watch is approximately ₹ 1.5 crore and not ₹ 5 crores 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,” he added.
Notably, Hardik owns some of the most expensive watches in the world and his watch collection even includes the Patek Philippe Nautilus Platinum 5711 – which costs over Rs 5 crore.
Interestingly, last year, elder brother of Hardik, Krunal Pandya was detained at Mumbai Airport while returning from Dubai, over suspicion of being in possession of undisclosed gold and other valuables. Krunal was found in possession of Gold worth INR 1 crore and some undisclosed luxury watches.
The case was handed over to the Airport Customs as the case was a non-recurring type, according to the DRI officials.
