Hardik Pandya has rubbished the allegations of not declaring his '2 watches worth 5 crores' and said that he hasn't 'crossed any legal boundaries'. Pandya said that he voluntarily went up to the customs department at the Mumbai airport to 'declare the items' bought by him.
In fact, in a statement released on social media, Pandya said that the watches were not actually for 5 crores as reported, but they were for 1.5 crore rupees.
He has also pledged to provide full support to the agencies in the matter. Earlier, it was reported that Hardik Pandya was stopped at the Mumbai airport, and two of his watches which were worth 5 crores were seized by the customs department for not being able to produce an invoice for the same.
Pandya clarified his position in a social media statement.
Hardik Pandya's Full Statement:
"Early on Monday morning, 15th November, on my arrival from Dubai, after picking up my luggage, I voluntarily went to the Mumbai airport customs counter to declare the items brought by me and pay the requisite customs duty. Wrong perceptions have been floating around on social media regarding my declaration of customs at Mumbai airport, and I would like to clarify about what transpired.
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 proper valuation for duty which I’ve already confirmed to pay.
The cost of the watch is approximately Rs. 1.5 crore and not Rs. 5 crore as per the rumours 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."