Bengaluru Court Extends Custody of Actress Ranya Rao in Gold Smuggling Case

Judicial Custody Extended for Ranya Rao and Co-Accused

Bengaluru: A special court in Bengaluru has decided to prolong the judicial custody of Kannada actress Ranya Rao, who is a key suspect in a gold smuggling case, until April 21.

The court, which specializes in economic offenses, also extended the custody of two other defendants, Tarun Raju and jeweler Sahil Sakaria Jain, until the same date.

Currently, all three individuals are being held at Bengaluru Central Jail.

The court denied Tarun Raju's bail request and is scheduled to review Jain's bail application on April 9.

Ranya Rao, who is the stepdaughter of senior police officer Ramchandra Rao, was taken into custody on March 3 for allegedly smuggling 14.2 kilograms of gold, valued at over ₹12.56 crore.

The investigation is being conducted by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), the Enforcement Directorate (ED), and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

In response to the case, the state government has formed a special team led by a senior IAS officer to investigate the involvement of DGP Ramachandra Rao, with a report already submitted to the government.

The DRI's investigation has uncovered that Ranya Rao was engaged in hawala transactions in collaboration with Jain, the third accused.

In a remand application presented to the Special Court for Economic Offences regarding Jain's arrest, the DRI claimed that both Rao and Jain were part of a hawala network.

The findings indicate that with Jain's assistance, Ranya Rao managed to dispose of 49.6 kilograms of gold and transferred ₹38.4 crore in hawala funds to Dubai.

The DRI stated: “The investigations have indicated that Jain, hailing from Ballari and settled in Bengaluru, assisted and abetted Ranya Rao in disposing of 49.6 kilograms of gold worth around ₹40 crore and transferring hawala money of ₹38.4 crore to Dubai.”