CHENNAI: The Chennai Customs has issued a summons to Ponguleti Harsha Reddy, the son of a Telangana minister, for his alleged involvement in the smuggling of high-end watches worth several crores of rupees, according to official documents.

Reddy was asked to appear on April 4, but in a letter dated April 3, he expressed his inability to show up, stating that he was recovering from dengue, Customs sources said quoting the letter. However, he has agreed to appear before the department after April 27, as per medical advice, sources added.

Speaking to news agency PTI, Reddy said that he had nothing to do with the case. “It is completely baseless. I am unwell right now,” said the son of Telangana’s Revenue and Housing Minister Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy.

The summons dated March 28 was sent to the office of a family-owned firm in Hyderabad in which Harsha Reddy is a director.

The smuggling case was booked by Customs on February 5 when two luxury watches—Patek Philipe 5740 and Breguet 2759—were seized from a Hong Kong-based Indian, Muhammed Faherdeen Mubeen, a luxury watch dealer who came to Chennai from Singapore. The central agency estimated their original value at Rs 1.73 crore. Customs claimed that Harsha Reddy was identified as the end buyer through an intermediary Alokam Naveen Kumar. When interrogated by Customs on March 12, Naveen said he acted as an intermediary between Harsha and Mubeen and facilitated payments for the transaction through USDT - a form of cryptocurrency - and cash using the hawala route, Customs sources claimed.

When contacted by PTI, Harsha Reddy denied the allegations, terming them “baseless”.

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.