Bengaluru, April 26: The Karnataka High Court has on Saturday rejected the bail pleas of actor Ranya Rao and her co-accused Tarun Raju in connection with the sensational gold smuggling case.
Justice Savanur Vishwajith Shetty led the bench that passed the order.
Ranya Rao, the stepdaughter of senior IPS officer Ramachandra Rao—currently on compulsory leave—now faces additional legal hurdles as the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974 (COFEPOSA), has been invoked against her.
Acting on the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence's (DRI) recommendation, the Central Economic Intelligence Bureau (CEIB) moved to enforce the Act, which effectively blocks any chance of bail for the next year.
The decision to invoke COFEPOSA was influenced by the accused's repeated bail attempts and concerns that they may continue smuggling activities if released. Along with Ranya Rao, Tarun Raju and Sahil Sakaria Jain have also been booked under the Act.
Ranya was arrested on March 3 for allegedly smuggling 14.2 kilograms of gold valued at over ₹12.56 crore. She, along with the other accused, remains lodged at Bengaluru Central Prison. The case is being jointly probed by the DRI, Enforcement Directorate (ED), and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Meanwhile, the Karnataka government has constituted a special team headed by a senior IAS officer to investigate DGP Ramachandra Rao's possible involvement. The team's report has already been submitted, sources said.
DRI's investigation revealed that Ranya, along with co-accused Sahil, engaged in hawala transactions linked to the smuggled gold. In its remand application against Sahil, the DRI alleged that Ranya and the jeweller were part of a hawala network that helped dispose of 49.6 kilograms of gold and transferred ₹38.4 crore to Dubai.
“The investigations indicate that Jain, originally from Ballari and now settled in Bengaluru, aided Ranya Rao in disposing of approximately 49.6 kilograms of gold worth around ₹40 crore and facilitated hawala transfers amounting to ₹38.4 crore to Dubai," the DRI said.
