Alleged Hawala Transactions: ED raids Ponguleti

Hyderabad: The Enforcement Directorate on Friday raided multiple premises linked to Telangana Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy and some others as part of a money laundering case linked to an alleged smuggling racket of more than Rs 100 crore, official sources said.

The money laundering case stems from a Customs/Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) complaint against Reddy's son, Harsha Reddy, of the Raghava Group, who is alleged to have purchased seven watches worth Rs 5 crore. The payments for these are linked to an alleged hawala and cryptocurrency racket worth Rs 100 crore and a man named A Naveen Kumar is under the scanner of the ED. The investigation was prompted by a complaint filed by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI). Harsha Reddy had earlier denied charges of wrongdoing and termed the allegations against himself as baseless. He was summoned by the Chennai Customs Department in April for questioning in the case following an interception made by its officials on February 5 when two luxury watches -- Patek Philippe 5740 and Breguet 2759 -- were seized.

The minister’s company Raghava Constructions and infra office located in the posh Banjara Hills area was also searched and some important documents are said to have been seized.

The agency officials said that 16 teams of ED officials conducted searches in different locations and will continue the raids on Saturday also. A team of officials also went to the minister’s native district of Khammam as part of the investigation.

Political circles said that Raghava Constructions was awarded the Narayanpet-Kodangal Lift Irrigation Project recently. Money circulation in the company was under scrutiny, sources said, adding that the ED also conducted such raids on Srinivas Reddy’s houses and offices before the 2023 Assembly elections. TPCC president Mahesh Kumar Goud alleged that this was an arm twisting tactic by the Modi-led BJP government.