Chennai Customs summons Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy's son in Rs 100 crore luxury watch smuggling case

HYDERABAD: Ponguleti Harsha Reddy, son of Telangana's Revenue and Housing Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, has been summoned by the Chennai Customs for his alleged involvement in smuggling  high-end watches, worth crores of rupees.

According to Chennai Customs, Harsha Reddy was asked to appear before the authorities in Chennai on April 4, 2024, in a letter dated April 3, 2024. However, Harsha Reddy expressed his inability to appear before Chennai Customs on the said date due to ill health.

Harsha agreed to appear before the authorities on April 27. Speaking to PTI, Harsha Reddy denied having any connection with the smuggling of expensive watches.

Chennai Customs booked a case on February 5, 2024, after the customs authorities seized two high-end watches—Patek Philipe 5740 and Breguet 275 from a Hongkong-based Indian Muhammed Faherdeen Mubeen, who came to Chennai from Singapore.

The Customs press statement said that the value of the watches was around Rs 1.73 crore; the Patek Philipe has no dealer in India, while the Breguet is out of stock in the Indian market, an official press release by Customs said.

After investigation, it was found that the watches were meant for Harsha Reddy. The watches from Mubeen were supposed to reach Harsha Reddy through an intermediary Alokam Naveen Kumar. Alokam Naveen  Kumar was interrogated by the Customs officials on March 12.

Customs said that Alokam Naveen Kumar agreed that he acted as an intermediary between Harsha and Mubeen, a luxury watch dealer. He also said that payments were done through USDT-a form of cryptocurrency- and cash, using the hawala route.

"Dismissing an anticipatory bail petition moved by Naveen Kumar, the Madras High Court in its order on March 18 said that the amount involved in the overall smuggling of luxury watches over a period might be more than Rs 100 crore, based on a perusal of records," agencies said.

The Alandur court in Chennai on April 1 directed Customs to investigate Harsha Reddy and arrest Alokam Naveen Kumar.