BJP MP Suresh Gopi evaded road tax claims report

BJP MP Suresh Gopi (File)

Actor and Rajya Sabha MP Suresh Gopi purportedly evaded paying road tax in Kerala by registering his luxury vehicle in the union territory of Pondicherry, Mathrubhumi television news channel claimed. The channel reported that the BJP-nominated MP registered his Audi Q7 SUV in Pondicherry in 2010 by paying Rs 1.5 lakh road tax. If he had registered the same in Kerala, where the car is being used, he would have to cough up Rs 15 lakhs, Mathrubhumi claimed. The residential address the actor gave in the UT was one he allegedly used as rented accommodation.

Attempts to reach Gopi by phone were unsuccessful. An aide in his Delhi office said the MP was in Thiruvananthapuram. Mathrubhumi, through an investigation, had earlier claimed that popular actors Fahadh Faasil and Amala Paul had also registered their cars in Puducherry to evade a hefty road tax in Kerala.