' ₹1.5 crore, not ₹5 crore': Hardik Pandya clarifies on watch seizure

Custom officials seized two watches worth ₹5 crore from Pandya when he was returning from Dubai after India was eliminated in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. The officials said that he neither had a bill for the watches nor did he declare them as custom items.

Team India cricketer Hardik Pandya issued a clarification on Tuesday regarding the seizure of two of his watches by the Mumbai customs department on Sunday night. Pandya said that he voluntarily went to the customs counter of the Mumbai airport to declare the items that he brought and pay the requisite customs duty.

Hardik Pandya issued a statement on Twitter and said that the watches were worth ₹1.5 crore and not ₹5 crore “as per rumours floating around on social media.” (Getty Images)

Custom officials seized two watches worth ₹5 crore from Pandya when he was returning from Dubai after India was eliminated in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. The officials said that he neither had a bill for the watches nor did he declare them as custom items.

Hardik Pandya issued a statement on Twitter and said that the watches were worth ₹1.5 crore and not ₹5 crore “as per rumours floating around on social media.”

“I had voluntarily declared all the items that I lawfully purchased from Dubai and was ready to pay whatever duties that needed to be paid,” Pandya said in the statement.

“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 have already confirmed to pay,” he added.

The 28-year-old all-rounder also said that he is a law-abiding citizen and assured his full cooperation to customs officials and will provide whichever legitimate documents are needed to get the matter cleared. “All allegations against me of crossing any legal boundaries are totally unfounded,” Pandya added.

Hardik Pandya is said to own some of the most expensive watches in the world and his collection reportedly includes a Patek Philippe Nautilus Platinum 5711, which costs around ₹5 crore.

He has been dropped from the India squad which will be playing against New Zealand in a three-match T20 series starting Wednesday. Venkatesh Iyer has been chosen as a replacement for Pandya.