Interestingly, the incident remained buried for four days, surfacing only after social media posts went viral and Opposition parties demanded action.
Published Dec 04, 2025 | 11:18 AM ⚊ Updated Dec 04, 2025 | 11:18 AM
Ponguleti Harsha Reddy.
Synopsis: The Telangana police have registered a case of alleged land grabbing against Raghava Constructions — a firm owned by Ponguleti Harsha Reddy, son of Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy. The land lies close to Exit 1A of the Outer Ring Road, a prime slice of real estate in one of the country’s fastest-growing urban corridors.
In what is being seen as a major embarrassment for the Congress-led government in Telangana, the police have registered a case of alleged land grabbing against Raghava Constructions — a firm owned by Ponguleti Harsha Reddy, son of Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy.
The case was registered over an audacious land grab attempt in Vattinagulapally on Hyderabad’s western edge.
According to the police, the flare-up occurred on 30 November, when more than 70 hired musclemen, backed by JCB excavators, descended on a three-acre plot valued at an exorbitant ₹300 crore. The land, owned by local resident Pallavi Shah and her family, lies close to Exit 1A of the Outer Ring Road, a prime slice of real estate in one of the country’s fastest-growing urban corridors.
In her complaint to the Gachibowli police, Shah described a brazen assault on her property: Boundary walls were torn down, sheds were razed, and even a goshala housing cattle was destroyed — causing damage running into crores.
When the family objected, they were allegedly manhandled, turning what was ostensibly a property dispute into a violent confrontation.
Police registered an FIR under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including criminal trespass, rioting and intimidation, and a separate case was booked for the alleged assault.
Interestingly, the incident remained buried for four days, surfacing only after social media posts went viral and Opposition parties demanded action.
However, trouble has been brewing for the Ponguleti family for months, beginning with a high-profile Enforcement Directorate (ED) investigation that played out in September 2024.
During searches on Raghava Constructions, ED officials reportedly uncovered evidence of hawala transactions and money laundering tied to flashy overseas purchases, including a cache of luxury watches smuggled from Hong Kong.
Among the seized items were a Patek Philippe 5740 worth ₹1 crore and a Breguet 2759 valued at R₹70 lakh, signalling the scale of opulence under scrutiny.
The trail, investigators say, traced back to a January 2024 shopping spree in Macau, where Harsha Reddy allegedly bought seven high-end watches worth over ₹5 crore through intermediaries.
These pieces were allegedly smuggled via Chennai airport and were linked to a February seizure involving similar contraband. Officials suspect cryptocurrency-fuelled hawala channels may have been used to funnel unaccounted wealth.
While the family maintains that the purchases were legitimate and insists it has cooperated fully with investigators, no formal charges have been filed so far.
Adding to the government’s troubles is a separate scandal involving Minister for Women and Child Welfare, Konda Surekha. In October 2025, her former Officer on Special Duty (OSD), B Sumanth, allegedly threatened the executives of a cement company at gunpoint, demanding ₹50 lakh as a “fee” for expediting a mining lease.
An FIR was subsequently filed against him on charges of extortion and criminal intimidation.
The controversy intensified during a late-night police search on 15–16 October at Surekha’s Jubilee Hills residence, where Sumanth was suspected to be hiding.
Her daughter, Congress youth leader Konda Sushmita, confronted the police, accusing them of entering without a warrant and calling the raid a politically motivated witch-hunt. Videos of the showdown quickly circulated online, fuelling public debate.
Surekha later apologised to the chief minister on 24 October, terming the incident a “misunderstanding.” Meanwhile, the Opposition BRS demanded that cases be filed against the minister and her daughter for obstructing the investigation.
The probe continues, even as murmurs grow within Congress circles about internal factional tensions linked to lucrative government contracts.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
