Actor Ranya Rao’s bail petition has been rejected by a sessions court in Bengaluru in the gold smuggling case.
Ms Rao was arrested on March 3 for allegedly smuggling 14.2 kg of gold, valued at over Rs 12.56 crore. She is the stepdaughter of senior police officer Ramchandra Rao.
The prosecution told the court she admitted to using hawala channels to buy gold. The authorities have issued notice to start a judicial investigation against Ms Rao as this would reveal other financial irregularities.
Tarun Raj, an aide of the actor, is the second accused in the case and is also awaiting the court’s decision on his bail application, which is expected to come today.
Ms Rao allegedly disposed of the smuggled gold via a merchant identified as Sahil Jain, who was arrested on Wednesday by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI). With this, so far three people including the actor have been arrested in the case.
DRI lawyer Madhu Rao said Tarun Raj and Ranya Rao travelled together to Dubai some 26 times; they would leave in the morning and return by evening.
Before the arrest, Ranya Rao booked the ticket for Tarun Raj’s journey, and he gave her the gold in Dubai.
Senior police officer Ramchandra Rao has also been questioned in the gold smuggling case.
On March 15, the Karnataka government placed K Ramachandra Rao on a compulsory leave with immediate effect and until further notice in connection with the gold smuggling case.
The actor allegedly misused her stepfather Rao’s name to escape security checks by using the protocol reserved for officials of the highest rank, officials said.
