By PTI

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Malayalam actor Fahadh Faasil was arrested here today and later released on bail in connection with registration of his luxury vehicle in Puducherry using "forged" documents.

The Crime Branch wing of Kerala Police recorded the award-winning actor's statement when he appeared before the investigation officials here for questioning, sources said.

The actor was released on a bond of Rs 50,000 and two solvent sureties, a senior crime branch official said.

Last week, the actor got anticipatory bail from a court near Alappuzha.

The statements given by Fahadh would be verified and further action would be taken in this regard, he said.

According to police, the actor had used fake documents to register his car in Puducherry to evade the 20 per cent tax in Kerala on luxury cars costing Rs 20 lakh and above.

A resident of Kerala, he had availed vehicle loans from his home state and got his vehicle registered in Puducherry, they said.

He also forged documents to show that he was a resident of the Union Territory, police added.

A similar case was registered against actor-turned-BJP MP Suresh Gopi, who secured anticipatory bail on the same day as Fahadh last week.

The Regional Transport Commissioner's office in Thiruvananthapuram has been cracking down for the past month on the thriving business of Kerala residents getting their high-end cars registered in Puducherry to take advantage of low taxes there.



The only requirement for vehicle registration is that the car owner should have a Puducherry address.



A probe into the Puducherry addresses revealed that some of them were one-room houses and those living there had no clue about how their addresses were used for registration of vehicles.



The Kerala government ordered a Crime Branch probe after the media reported on the matter. The state exchequer losses were estimated at over Rs 300 crore over five years, according to a top official.



Apart from the two, actress Amala Paul approached the Kerala High Court on Wednesday for anticipatory bail.

(With IANS inputs)