'I'm a law-abiding citizen': Hardik Pandya issues clarification

Hardik Pandya clarified through a Twitter post on Tuesday that customs officials at Mumbai airport did not actually seize his luxury watches worth Rs 5 crore, but that he voluntarily declared the items.

On Monday morning, Pandya surrendered two watches at the Mumbai airport after landing from Dubai. While reports claimed that Pandya had been stopped at the airport and the items seized, the cricketer himself said 'he voluntarily went to the Mumbai airport customs counter to declare the items brought by him and pay the requisite duty.'

Pandya, who was returning home along with other Indian players after India's exit from the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, also added that the cost of the watch is "approximately Rs. 1.5 crore and not Rs. 5 crore as per the rumours floating around on social media."

"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.

Incidentally, last year, Hardik's brother Krunal had also been stopped at the Mumbai airport for not declaring as many as four luxury watches to Customs. The Mumbai Indians star had reportedly said that he had no idea about the declaration procedure.