Actress Ranya Rao Hit with Major Setback in Gold Smuggling Case by High Court
Karnataka (The Uttam Hindu): Kannada actress Ranya Rao has suffered a major setback in the gold smuggling case. In fact, the Karnataka High Court rejected her bail plea on Saturday. At the same time, the second accused Tarun Raju has also been denied bail in this case. A bench headed by Justice Savanur Vishwajit Shetty passed the order in this regard.
The court has rejected Ranya Rao's bail plea twice in this case. Meanwhile, a case has been registered against her under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974 (COFEPOSA). Under this, the central or state government can detain a person for a maximum of 1 year.
The Central Economic Intelligence Bureau (CEIB), a nodal agency working under the Finance Ministry, has invoked the COFEPOSA Act against the actress and other accused. Sources said the central agencies have taken this step after repeated attempts by Ranya Rao and others in the case to obtain bail.
The other accused, Tarun Raju and Sahil Sakaria Jain, have also been booked under the COFEPOSA Act.
Ranya Rao, the stepdaughter of senior IPS officer Ramachandra Rao, was arrested on March 3 for allegedly smuggling 14.2 kg of gold. The value of the gold was estimated at over Rs 12.56 crore.
Ranya Rao and two other accused in the case are currently lodged in Bengaluru Central Jail. The case is being investigated by the DRI, Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The state government has formed a special team led by a senior IAS officer to investigate the role of DGP Ramachandra Rao. Sources said that the report in this regard has been submitted to the government.
DRI's investigation into the gold smuggling case has revealed that the actress was involved in hawala transactions with Jain, the third accused in the case. The investigation has found that with the help of Jain, Ranya Rao smuggled 49.6 kg of gold and transferred hawala money worth Rs 38.4 crore to Dubai.
