Karnataka HC junks bail pleas of Ranya Rao, Tarun Raju in gold smuggling case

The Karnataka high court on Saturday dismissed the bail petitions filed by Kannada actor Ranya Rao and her Telugu actor friend Tarun Konduru Raju, both of whom are arrested in connection with a gold smuggling case.

Justice S Vishwajith Shetty pronounced the order, a detail copy of which was awaited.

Rao was arrested at the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru on March 3 after Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials found her in possession of 14.2 kg of gold bars worth ₹12.5 crore, upon her arrival from Dubai, while Raju was taken into custody on March 10.

During the hearing in the high court, Rao’s counsel Sandesh Chouta argued that she had been “falsely implicated in the case”, while advocate Madhukar N Rao, representing DRI, the prosecuting agency in the case, opposed the bail petitions filed by both actor friends and co-accused.

The DRI counsel had informed the court that the agency’s probe so far revealed that 100 kilograms of gold had been smuggled by Rao and Raju to India from Dubai.

The high court has also asked the federal agency as to how Rao had obtained VIP protocol and police escort at the Bengaluru airport. To this, DRI counsel said it was yet to investigate “that angle.”

Raju’s counsel, seeking bail for his client, had denied all allegations against him and said that even if the charges against him were taken at face value, the only allegation against him was that he had travelled to Dubai and handed over the gold to Rao.

The federal revenue and intelligence agency had earlier claimed that Rao and Raju made 26 trips together between January and March this year alone. Officials suspect that overall Rao has made 56 trips to Dubai between 2023 and this year.

DRI had also told the court that before Rao’s arrest at the airport, she had claimed she did not have anything to declare at the green channel. However, when she was searched, gold bars worth over ₹12 crore were recovered from her.

Besides DRI, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) have also registered separate cases to focus on a larger international syndicate and possible role of government officials in facilitating the smuggling.

Cofeposa Act invoked

Meanwhile, the Union government has invoked the stringent Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities (COFEPOSA) Act against Rao, making her ineligible for bail for a period of one year.

An order to this effect was issued by the joint secretary of the Central Economic Intelligence Bureau, Department of Revenue, on April 22.

The stringent law was also invoked against the other two accused in the case — Tarun Raju and Sahil Sakaria Jain — both of whom are lodged in the Bengaluru Central Prison along with Rao.