Telangana’s Labour and Employment Minister Ch Malla Reddy alleged that his son Mahender Reddy was assaulted by CRPF officials during the raids conducted by Income Tax (I-T) authorities on November 22. The I-T authorities have been investigating Malla Reddy for suspected tax evasion. Malla Reddy said that the assault on his son Mahender Reddy resulted in him developing chest pain and he was admitted to a hospital in Suraram, Hyderabad. The Minister alleged the authorities did not allow him to meet his son. The I-T authorities began searches at the offices and residence of Malla Reddy’s family premises on Tuesday, November 22. The searches were continuing on Wednesday. According to the Minister, nearly 50 teams of I-T officials were carrying out the searches.
Speaking to the media from the hospital premises, Malla Reddy lashed out at the BJP and said, “Why are we being harassed in this manner? We are cooperating with the searches. But in the name of raids, my sons were assaulted by CRPF officials. They are harassing them.” He alleged the BJP was deliberately targeting him since he was a Minister. Stating that he was not informed about his son’s ill health by the authorities, he questioned, “What kind of harassment is this?” The Minister said that he was not involved in any wrongdoing, and his educational institutions were strictly complying with the laws of the state and not making any money by selling seats under the management quota.
The Minister is the founder of Malla Reddy Group of Institutions, which has engineering, medical, nursing, pharmacy, management including professional colleges under its network. These educational institutions have been accused of collecting large donations, charging capitation fees for seat allocation for management quota students in professional colleges, and also submitting fake documents to secure National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) accreditation.
In 2020, one of its engineering colleges – Malla Reddy College of Engineering (MRCE) in Kompally, Hyderabad – was blacklisted by NAAC for five years. The NAAC allegedly found several digitally forged certificates submitted for accreditation by the college in their Self Study Report (SSR).
The Minister has also been accused of encroaching government land through forged documents and constructing a private university named Malla Reddy University in Gundla Pochampally. Malla Reddy, who was the chairman of Malla Reddy Group of Institutions, made his political plunge in 2014. He joined the Telugu Desam Party and won the MP seat from Malkajgiri constituency. Subsequently, when the TDP lost its significance in Telangana, he shifted his loyalties to the Telangana Rashtra Samithi. In 2018, he won the Medchal Assembly seat.
Earlier this week, Minister Talasani Srinivas' PA was also summoned by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case. The TRS alleged these actions were a vendetta by the BJP-led Union government. In a major political development last month, the Telangana government had arrested three persons allegedly associated with the BJP, who were allegedly plotting to destabilise the Telangana government by poaching their elected representatives.