COFEPOSA invoked, Ranya Rao to stay in jail for 1 year with no bail in gold smuggling case

Kannada actress Ranya Rao has been booked under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities (COFEPOSA) Act, 1974, in connection with an alleged gold smuggling case, making her ineligible for bail for a year.

According to Mathrubhumi, authorities have said that the Act was invoked to prevent her from conducting any further smuggling activities upon release. They cited her non-cooperation with investigating agencies as a reason for this move.

At present, Ranya Rao is lodged in the Bengaluru Central Prison along with other two accused Tarun Raju and Sahil Sakaria Jain, both of whom have also been booked under the COFESPA Act.

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Karnataka HC refuses bail

Meanwhile, the Karnataka high court on Saturday refused to grant bail to Rao and co-accused Raju.

Ranya Rao was arrested at the Kempegowda International Airport on March 3 after officials of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) found her in possession of 14.2 kg of gold bars worth ₹12.5 crore, upon her arrival from Dubai. Raju, on the other hand, was arrested on March 9.

While Rao's counsel argued that she had been “falsely implicated in the case,” the senior advocate representing DRI opposed her bail plea and told the court that the agency's probe has so far revealed 100 kgs of gold had been smuggled by the actress and her friend Tarun Raju to India from Dubai.

The central agency has claimed that Rao and Raju took over 20 trips to Dubai together between January and March this year alone. They suspect that overall, Rao made 56 trips to Dubai between 2023 and 2025.

Besides DRI, the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate have also registered separate cases to probe any possible role of government officials, including the Kannada actress' stepfather, DGP Ramachandra Rao, in the smuggling.

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Ramachandra Rao was serving as the chairperson and managing director of the Karnataka State Police Housing and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited at the time of Ranya's arrest. He has been placed on compulsory leave by the Karnataka government.

Earlier this week, the high court had also questioned as to why Ranya Rao was granted VIP protocol and police escort at the Bengaluru airport, which allegedly helped her evade security checks on several trips she allegedly took to Dubai.