Actor Dulquer Salmaan on Friday filed a petition before the Kerala High Court against the Customs Department’s seizure of one of his high-end cars during Operation Numkhor. He also requested that the vehicle be released into his custody.

Earlier this week, Customs officials conducted searches at nearly 35 locations across Kerala, including the Kochi residences of Dulquer and actor Prithviraj Sukumaran, following inputs that expensive second-hand cars were being smuggled into India through the Indo-Bhutan border. The term Numkhor is derived from the Bhutanese word for ‘vehicle’.

In his plea, Dulquer argued that the Land Rover Defender in question was a collector’s item that he had carefully maintained, and claimed that the seizure was made hastily without proper inquiry. He alleged that the action was based solely on suspicion and lacked any supporting evidence regarding this particular vehicle. He further contended that prolonged adjudication would leave the car in poor condition, as the department lacked the facilities to preserve it, effectively rendering the vehicle worthless by the time proceedings concluded.

The actor, therefore, sought the court’s direction to release the vehicle to him, assuring that it would be produced before authorities whenever required.

On the work front, Dulquer has two Telugu films—DQ 41, directed by debutant Ravi Nelakuditie, and Pavan Sadineni’s Aakasamlo Oka Tara lined up. He also has Selvamani Selvaraj’s Tamil period drama Kaantha, and the Malayalam film I’m Game with RDX director Nahas Hidhayath as part of his upcoming slate.