India all-rounder Hardik Pandya has released a statement-making a clarification regarding the "rumours" doing the rounds that the customs officials at Mumbai airport seizing his luxury watches worth Rs 5 crore.
The right-hander in a statement said that he voluntarily declared all the items that had been lawfully purchased from Dubai and was ready to pay whatever duties needed to be paid.
“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 the purchase documents which were submitted; however, customs is doing the valuation for duty which I’ve already confirmed to pay,” Pandya wrote in a statement issued on Twitter.
Hardik further added that the cost of the watches is “approximately Rs. 1.5 crore and not Rs. 5 crore as per the rumours floating around on social media”.
The all-rounder was a part of the Indian team during the recently concluded T20 World Cup. Hardik scored a total of 69 runs in the three innings that he batted in for India.
The Men in Blue bowed out of the tournament in the group stage itself and will now lock horns with New Zealand in the T20I series slated to begin on Wednesday in Jaipur.