ED searches Hyderabad dealer Basharat Khan’s premises
HYDERABAD: The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Hyderabad unit, searched the residence of car dealer Basharat Ahmed Khan at Jubilee Hills and SK Car Lounge in Gachibowli on Friday. Officials said the raids were conducted under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) in connection with suspected smuggling of imported cars.
Union minister Bandi Sanjay alleged that former Telangana minister K.T. Rama Rao was using a luxury vehicle purchased in the name of a company linked to Khan’s family. “Is the Car Party running on smuggled luxury cars? Why is Twitter Tillu seen in Land Cruisers imported by scam-accused Basarath Khan, arrested by DRI Ahmedabad?” he posted on X.
The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) denied the charge, saying the car was bought in a regular transaction and questioned why a serving Congress minister’s purchase from Khan was not being highlighted.
DRI probe into customs fraud
In May 2025, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) arrested Khan for allegedly evading customs duty on imported luxury cars by undervaluing shipments rerouted through Dubai and Sri Lanka. The estimated duty evasion was ₹25 crore.
Investigators found that vehicles from the United States and Japan were routed through Dubai and Sri Lanka, converted from left-hand to right-hand drive, and declared at less than half their actual value using forged documents.
Khan admitted undervaluing several cars, including a Toyota Land Cruiser 300 imported on February 16, 2024, undervalued by ₹20 lakh, a Rolls Royce Cullinan imported on March 1, 2024, undervalued by ₹1.2 crore, and a Lexus LX-500D imported on October 16, 2023, undervalued by ₹50 lakh.
He assured investigators that he would pay the differential customs duty on eight vehicles in due course.
Political fallout
Officials said both a former minister from the previous BRS government and a sitting minister in the current Congress government had purchased imported vehicles from Khan. The revelations have triggered a political row between the BJP, Congress and the BRS. Both ED and DRI inquiries are still under way.