Bengaluru court reserved decision on bail of Ranya Rao in gold smuggling case
Ranya Rao: Kannada actress Ranya Rao, arrested for smuggling gold from Dubai, has filed an application for bail. The court has reserved its order during the hearing.
The Bengaluru Economic Offenses Court on Thursday reserved judgment in Kannada actress Ranya Rao's request for bail after she was arrested from Bengaluru International Airport for allegedly smuggling gold. Judgment will be given on Friday, with investigative agencies having sought her custody.
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) said that three-day custody of Ranya Rao is needed for ongoing inquiry regarding matters related to national security. Ranya Rao's lawyer opposed the application of DRI and said that there is no requirement for custody. To this, the prosecution said objections cannot be taken into consideration while making a request for custody, since the matter is sensitive. Lawyers from DRI said that the procedure has been violated and important information cannot be shared in open court. He informed the court that in the event of requirement, the details of the investigation could be presented in a sealed cover.
The court was told that important information has been obtained in the last two days and making this information public can jeopardize the ongoing investigation. The DRI stressed the need for custody and a thorough investigation. The prosecution also cited the Supreme Court's directive, according to which custody can be kept for 40 days in such cases. After these arguments, the judge ruled that the bail plea could be considered only after the investigation was completed.
The actress is the stepdaughter of Karnataka State Housing Corporation Director General of Police Ramachandra Rao. On Monday evening, the DRI arrested the actress when she arrived at the Bengaluru International Airport from Dubai. She allegedly tried to avoid security checks by taking advantage of her relationship with her DGP father. She was arrested after gold worth Rs 12.56 crore was recovered from her. After that, DRI officials also raided her Bengaluru house located in the posh area of Lavelle Road. From there, they recovered gold and cash worth crores of rupees.
Ranya Rao was on the radar of DRI due to her frequent international travels. According to officials, she had visited Dubai more than 30 times last year. She had visited Dubai four times in the last 15 days, raising suspicion of smuggling. During a thorough search, cleverly hidden gold biscuits were recovered from her, after which she was taken into custody.
