Customs officials raid residence of Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy’s son

Customs officials conducted an extensive six-hour search at the residence of Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy’s son, Harsha Reddy, in connection with a high-profile watch smuggling case. Harsha Reddy was previously implicated in the smuggling of luxury watches valued at Rs 1.7 crore.

The case details reveal that on February 5, customs officials seized two expensive watches at Chennai airport. Initial investigations disclosed that the watches, a Patek Philippe 5740 and a Breguet 2759, were smuggled into India from Hong Kong by Mohammad Faherdeen Mubeen via Singapore.

Customs officials discovered that there are no authorized dealers for Patek Philippe in India, and Breguet watches are not readily available in the market. This raised suspicions, prompting a thorough examination, which revealed the watches’ combined value exceeded Rs 1.70 crore. Mubeen, who had transported the watches, was arrested and revealed that the consignment was intended for a person named Naveen Kumar.

Upon questioning, Naveen Kumar implicated Harsha Reddy. Customs officials suspect that Naveen Kumar acted as an intermediary for Harsha Reddy, with the transaction facilitated through hawala channels. Consequently, a search was conducted at Harsha Reddy’s residence today, according to customs sources.