Gold smuggling case: Kannada actor Ranya Rao sent to 14 days judicial custody

Three days after being questioned by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) in a gold smuggling case, Kannada actor Ranya Rao was produced before the magistrate and remanded in 14 days judicial custody on Monday.

Three days after being questioned by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) in a gold smuggling case, Kannada actor Ranya Rao was produced before the magistrate and remanded in 14 days judicial custody on Monday.

DRI officials on Monday also questioned a friend of Ranya for his possible involvement in the smuggling case. The questioning was done based on an analysis of call record details, sources said. The friend is said to be related to the owner of a star hotel in Bengaluru.

Ranya was arrested by the DRI officials after she was caught at the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) with 14.2 kg of gold bars worth ₹12.5 crore after landing from Dubai on March 3.

The worth of the total seizure in the case stands at ₹17.29 crore, and the DRI has said that the haul of 14.2 kg is one of the biggest seizures of gold at the KIA in recent times.

The actor is the stepdaughter of K. Ramachandra Rao, Director-General of Police, Karnataka State Police Housing Corporation. She allegedly used her stepfather’s name to avail herself of the protocol facility at the airport to bypass security checks.

The DRI officials who studied her travel history kept a watch and zeroed in on her soon after she landed at KIA from Dubai.

Ranya, who was interrogated by the DRI for three days, was produced around 4 p.m. before the special court for economic offences. As the DRI didn’t seek her further custody, the judge remanded her in judicial custody for 14 days.