Bollywood: Rolls Royce in Amitabh Bachchan's name seized in Bangalore

Actor Amitabh Bachchan and director Vidhu Vinod Chopra pose with a Silver Phantom Rolls Royce car during the promotion of their film Eklavya -The Royal Guard, in 2007. Photo: AFP

Dubai - The luxury car was allegedly gifted to the actor by filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra

By Web alert

Published: Tue 24 Aug 2021, 11:30 AM

Last updated: Tue 24 Aug 2021, 11:35 AM

A Rolls Royce car once registered in Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan’s name was among the seven vehicles the Karnataka transport department seized on Sunday during a raid by officials to check the papers of luxury cars in the city.

Officials said they seized the cars for plying without paying taxes and proper documentation, including proper insurance papers.

The raid by officials was conducted near UB city mall. “We don’t know who it belongs to. There are no documents available with them (drivers). That’s why the vehicles were seized,” Transport Commissioner N Shiva Kumar was quoted as saying in a report in the Hindustan Times.

“Some of these cars bore registration numbers belonging to Maharashtra or Pondicherry. These cars have not paid road tax in Karnataka and amount to a big loss to the state exchequer,” he added.

The Rolls-Royce Phantom that was seized was allegedly registered in the name of Bachchan. It was allegedly gifted to Bachchan by filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra following the success of his movie Eklavya – The Royal Guard. Though the superstar sold the vehicle some time back, it was reportedly not transferred to the new owner’s name.

The driver, Salman Khan, a resident of Vasanthnagar in Bangalore, could not produce the relevant document for the car but had a letter signed by the Bollywood megastar stating that the car was sold to him.