Customs officials today carried out searches at the residence of Harsha Reddy, son of Telangana minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, in connection with smuggling.
Customs officials today carried out searches at the residence of Harsha Reddy, son of minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, in connection with the smuggling of watches.
Harsha Reddy is accused of smuggling watches worth Rs 1.7 crore.
Customs officials from Chennai carried out searches at Ponguleti's residence for about six hours.
The officials had previously issued a notice to Harsha Reddy asking him to appear before them on April 4 in connection with the smuggling of branded watches. Harsha Reddy replied to the notices that he would appear after April 27.
For the uninitiated, Chennai customs officials had seized two branded watches from a smuggler named Mubin. Patek Philip and Brigat watches were found to have been brought by Mubin from Singapore for Harsha Reddy. The Patek Philip watch is not available in India, and each watch costs Rs 1.75 crore.
Customs officials found that Harsha Reddy had paid money for the watches in the form of hawala. A Naveen Kumar was the middleman between Mubin and Harsha Reddy. Naveen Kumar was also questioned by the customs officials. They estimate that the smuggling scam could be over Rs 100 crore.
The case was registered by the customs officials on February 5.