Ranya Rao bought gold worth crores in Dubai, said she was going to Geneva, but came to India

Kannada actress Ranya Rao is placed under 14-day judicial custody in the gold smuggling case. She is undergoing questioning under custody. The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has reported that twice in November and December 2024, Ranya Rao had bought gold. After this, she told the Customs Department that she was going to Geneva, Switzerland. Her traveling record had indicated otherwise when she had traveled to India.

CNN-News18 quoted the DRI as saying Rao bought the gold on November 13 and December 20 last year and declared she was going to Geneva. She returned to India. Rao also admitted before his arrest to buying the gold twice before flying from Dubai back to India. DRI authorities suspect Rao of evading customs duty value of approximately Rs 4.83 crore.

An investigation is going on against Ranya Rao in the gold smuggling case. He was detained from Bengaluru airport on March 3. At that time gold worth Rs 2.06 crore was recovered from him. When his house was raided, cash worth Rs 2.67 crore was recovered from him. On Monday, a court sought 14 days of judicial custody of Rao.

In his first statement to the DRI, Ranya admitted that 17 gold pieces were recovered from his possession. Ranya also admitted that he not only traveled to Dubai but also traveled to Europe, America, and Middle East countries. After this, Ranya refused to say anything. He told the officers to let him rest.

The actress is the stepdaughter of Karnataka State Housing Corporation Director General of Police Ramachandra Rao. The actress was arrested by the DRI on March 3 at the Bengaluru International Airport. She allegedly tried to evade 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 house in Bengaluru. From there, they recovered gold and cash worth crores of rupees.