In 1985, Mathrubhumi newspaper rocked the Indian Customs Department when it started publishing a series of articles on the malpractices and bribery in places like the Trivandrum International Airport.

The expose created a sensation and the public outrage forced the department take corrective actions, providing a huge relief to passengers coming back from Gulf nations. Their tales of greedy officials ransacking their bags, extorting money and demanding gifts were detailed in the series written by the late G Sekharan Nair.

Forty years later the Indian Customs Department is facing a similar storm. Since October 1, users of Twitter (now known as X) have been posting tales on harassment they faced when they import material into the country.

The barrage started after a small Chennai-based importer, Wintrack, posted that they are shutting down, alleging relentless harassment and bribery by Chennai Customs. This sparked a lot of attention and hundreds of traders, entrepreneurs and citizens started sharing tales of extortion, delays and systemic corruption at different customs check points.

The officials posted a long explanation in reply to Wintrack's post, denying all charges and pointing out the lack of compliance under different rules that led to actions against the firm. But that attracted more derision and outrage.

Shashi Tharoor, MP from Thiruvananthapuram, was among the first political leaders to react, calling the situation “outrageous and unacceptable”. Investor Mohandas Pai soon amplified the demand, urging Finance Minister Nirmala........

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