Ranya Rao case: A minefield of gold blows up Premium

Kannada film actor Ranya Rao caught smuggling gold, leading to a high-profile investigation and political implications. As Opposition questions ruling Congress over involvement of politicians, serious concerns have been raised about the security breach at airport and abuse of police protocol by families of officers

On March 3, sleuths from the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) waited at Kempegowda International Airport (KIA), Bengaluru, for a “passenger of interest”, Z8195849. They reportedly had intelligence that the passenger, travelling on Emirates flight EK566 from Dubai, which was scheduled to arrive at 6:20 p.m., may be carrying gold — “either in crude form or as paste”.

The passenger was Harshavardhini Ranya (Ranya Rao), a Kannada film actor and the step-daughter of K. Ramachandra Rao, Director General of Police (DGP), Karnataka Police. As Ranya deboarded the flight and walked into the airport terminal, two personnel from the Karnataka Police greeted her. They were Basavaraj, head constable, International Airport Police Station; and Dhanush Kumar, constable, Karnataka State Intelligence. With the two of them providing her protocol services, Ranya walked through the green channel meant for passengers with no dutiable or prohibited goods, the DRI said in its report later. Ranya had walked through the same channel several times in the past after landing from Dubai, the DRI report added.

Also read: Kannada actress Ranya Rao admits to possession of 17 gold bars: DRI

However, this time, things took a different turn. The DRI said officials stationed at the exit of the green channel summoned her aside for checks. They asked if she had any gold to declare to Customs; Ranya said she did not. Two female officers then took the actor into a private room, where Ranya reportedly confessed to having hidden gold bars on her body, the DRI said. The agency claimed that it recovered “yellow metal bars with foreign markings” of 24 karat gold weighing 14.2 kilogrammes from her. The DRI said Ranya had used a crepe bandage on her calf and a medical adhesive tape on her waist to conceal the gold. They also found bars of gold in the pockets of her jeans and the soles of her shoes. The assayer estimated the gold recovered to be worth ₹12.56 crore. The DRI also detained Basavaraj and Kumar, who had been escorting her.

In his statement to the DRI, Basavaraj claimed that “as a gesture of courtesy, he had been, from time to time, instructed to provide protocol assistance to family members of senior officials”. He said he had been “asked by DGP Ramachandra Rao to assist his family members by providing protocol assistance” and had provided the service a few times to Rao earlier. He claimed that Ranya called him on March 3, informing him of her arrival from Dubai and requesting him to be present at the airport. He said he had no knowledge of any attempt to smuggle gold. Kumar simply tagged along with him.

However, on March 6, when her police custody ended and she was transferred to jail, Ranya wrote to the DRI chief from the Parappana Agrahara Central Prison, denying all the allegations against her. She disputed the mahazar she had signed at the airport on March 3, which showed that gold had been recovered from her. She claimed that she had been framed in the case, detained from the aircraft contrary to the DRI’s version of events, slapped repeatedly, and made to sign on around 40 pages.

The case sent shock waves through the power corridors of Karnataka. Multiple Central agencies — the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Directorate of Enforcement (ED), and the Income Tax Department — joined the probe along with the DRI, which is rare for a gold smuggling case.