Customs, Police and a cautionary tale

 Recently, a logistics company, Wintrack tweeted: 

From October 1, 2025, our company will cease import/ export activities in India. For the past 45 days, Chennai Customs officials have relentlessly harassed us. After exposing their bribery practices twice this year, they retaliated, effectively crippling our operations and destroying our business in India. We deeply thank everyone who has supported us during these difficult times. 

Customs dismissed the allegations as “serious and false.” Wintrack named three officials, shared screenshots, mentioned bribe amount/s and also “discount” on the bribes. The episode led to such a flood of others pouring out their tales of harassment by and bribery of Customs officials on the internet that the Union Finance Ministry has now ordered an enquiry and also issued a statement. 

Well, I too have a Customs story. 

This was when I was S.P., Calcutta Airport. I learnt that the airport gate leading to the Customs enclosure had become almost a free zone with anyone entering and exiting it freely. This had serious implications for the airport security. The airport is only as secure as all its access points and any breach anywhere compromises the whole system. As per the rules, there were only two ways to enter an airport, either through a legitimate ticket for travel or an Airport Entry Permit (AEP). 

I directed the Police personnel to strictly implement the above rule without any exception, regardless of the gate. I was astounded by the backlash from Customs. Their Assistant Commissioners threatened my officers and even their Additional Commissioner wrote a D.O. letter asking me to “stop such practices which was impacting their rules of business.” When I pointed out that I shall not be able to allow anyone in without one of those two documents because that was violative of my “rule of business,” she chose to approach my seniors. 

Additional Commissioner of Customs was very senior to me in rank and rated audience by the high and mighty in the Police. I received a call from a DGP asking how come Calcutta airport had collapsed under my watch. I politely told him that I was as of that moment sitting in the airport and all about me things were bustling along and I definitely would’ve noticed if it had indeed collapsed. He was not convinced and ordered an IGP to look into the matter. I was accordingly summoned by the IGP to explain. 

What had happened was this. Those days, smuggling from Bangkok used to be big. There were these operators from Fancy Market in Kidderpore, the smuggling hub of Calcutta who used to regularly fly to Bangkok and come back with smuggled goods to the full extent of their purchasing power. After arriving at Calcutta airport, they would have no money for paying the Customs duties or the “alternative demands” so they would be allowed to go out of that gate and auction the goods out at the airport itself (the gate would be crowded with touts in sync with the arrival of those flights) and come back with the money to pay. The procedure is that if the legitimate Customs duties were to be paid, the goods needed to be “officially seized,” valued, and later released from the Customs warehouse against payment of the duty amount. This apparently was anathema to the Customs officials because that would obviate any “negotiations” or other dealings. I also offered to accept a third document, i.e., written authorisation by the Customs officials for any re-entry but that too was not acceptable because it would create a paper trail, hence no possible “negotiations.” 

So I went to that Nuremberg trial chaired by the IGP. I had prepared a two-page note detailing the full picture and submitted it for “his kind perusal.” The IGP was flanked by two DIGs and I was seated facing the three of them and shrinking by the minute. While the IGP was reading the note, the two DIGs took turns to berate and abuse me left, right and centre for “not being practical,” for creating friction with other agencies, for making things unnecessarily difficult for all concerned and so on. This went on for a good 10-15 minutes. Then the IGP finished reading the note, looked up and asked, “Agar smugglers ko tight kar raha hai to aap logon ko kya dikkat hai?” Immediately, the two DIGs changed their tune and complimented me for doing such a stellar job. I breathed again. 

Armed with that validation, I went back and hand-picked four officers with unimpeachable integrity to supervise that particular gate (in the four shifts). The Customs officials and the touts threatened to get them eliminated. I deployed visible and substantial police escorts for them to and from their residences. I also found that after the last international flight at around 9.30 PM every day, there used to be a party in the Customs enclosure to distribute the booty and the “negotiated amounts” collected during the day over sumptuous food and booze supplied from a nearby (famous) hotel and the officials used to be in an expansive mood then, expansive enough to throw Rs. 10,000 or so as tips for each of the hotel staff doing the catering. These hotel guys were also entering without any permit. I personally stopped them and again the Customs officials contacted a lot of my seniors on the plea that I was making them starve. However, this time, it didn’t cut any ice with anyone. 

After the airport assignment, I was posted to Calcutta Police which was a leg up. I was happy. But the happiest was the Customs set up at the airport. I believe, when the news of my new assignment filtered in, they burst into a proper Bhangra in celebration. The Airports Authority organised a big farewell for me – it was an eventful tenure, Purulia arms-drop, two almost-hijacks, a grenade incident and so on. All the agencies operating at the airport, with one exception, participated with gusto. Customs officials were conspicuous by their absence.