I-T searches on ex-MP Ranjith Reddy and DSR group for suspected tax evasion

HYDERABAD: The Income Tax Department on Tuesday carried out searches on former MP Dr Gaddam Ranjith Reddy and the DSR group of real estate companies on allegations of large-scale tax evasion.

Raids were conducted at 27 locations across Hyderabad and Bengaluru, covering company offices, project sites, and residences of directors.Focus on cash component in real estate dealsOfficials said the searches aimed to unearth unaccounted cash transactions in DSR projects. Preliminary findings suggested that while flats in projects such as DSR SkyOne and DSR’s World ventures were being sold at ₹12,000–₹13,000 per sq.

ft., registrations were shown only at ₹7,000. The difference, investigators suspect, was being collected as cash. Records also indicated repeated fluctuations in document and registration values, allegedly to conceal the cash component.

Ex-MP’s business ties under lensRanjith Reddy, who contested the 2024 elections on a Congress ticket after leaving the BRS, declared assets worth ₹435 crore in his election affidavit, making him one of the richest former MPs. He is linked to several DSR companies, including DSR IR Spaces and multiple DSR Infra firms. Along with him, the I-T Department searched the premises of the group’s directors — DeviReddy Sudhakar Reddy, D Prabhakar Reddy, and others.

Investigators seized documents, devices, and account books as part of the operation, which was concentrated in Jubilee Hills, the group’s headquarters, and several other prime locations in Hyderabad and Bengaluru. The exercise, officials said, was to trace concealed income and irregularities in property transactions.