Rolls Royce Phantom, Audi R8 among seized luxury cars in B'luru; here's what happens next [details]

Bengaluru is no stranger to luxury wheels plying on the roads. The Lavelle Road is the favourite spot and often buzzing with the revving engines of high-end cars from the likes of Audis, Bentleys, Jaguars, Rolls Royce and more. On Sunday, the Karnataka Transport Department carried out a drive to weed out high-end cars plying in the city without proper documents, which led them to 15 luxury cars parked near UB City.

The authorities seized all the luxury cars under the Motor Vehicles Act. These cars, of high-end brands like like Rolls Royce, Audi, Porsche and Jaguar, were seized for lacking ownership documents and evasion of tax.

While the entire list of seized luxury cars hasn't been shared, the collection includes one Rolls Royce Phantom, an Audi R8 and what appears to be a Jaguar XF and Mercedes Benz GLC from the photos released by the police. Going by the visible number plates, these cars belong to other states and not Karnataka.

According to Transport Commissioner N Shivakumar, some of the cars could not be found on Vahan portal, which indicated that they have fake documents, number plates or registration numbers. The officials are seeking documents from the owners of the cars for verification.

Rolls Royce Phantom and the B-Town connection

While the seized luxury cars are commonly spotted in Bengaluru, the Rolls Royce Phantom is of particular interest. The white Phantom's number plate is visible in the picture released by the police, which any Bollywood enthusiast would instantly recognize. The MH-02-BB-2 on the Phantom is a clear indication that the luxury car was once owned by Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan.

But Big B sold this car in 2019 to one builder in Bengaluru and a person identified as "Salman Khan" was driving the car when the authorities seized it, the authorities revealed.

"Based on information from our sources, we carried out a drive at UB City. Officials seized seven cars, including a Rolls Royce registered in Maharashtra. The vehicle was registered in the name of Amitabh Bachchan in 2019, but was later allegedly purchased by a builder from Bengaluru. During our drive, a person named Salman Khan was driving the car. He failed to produce documents related to the car. The car was also plying without insurance. We have impounded the car as per the rules," Additional Commissioner (Enforcement) of Transport Department, Narendra Holkar, told the Hindu.

What happens to seized cars?

The seized cars are parked in the Nelmangala RTO and will be returned to the owners only when they produce valid documents. In case no claims are made for the vehicles, or the documents produced are not satisfactory, they will be auctioned off after necessary permissions from the court, an official from the Regional Transport Office revealed.