After actress Ranya Rao, key accused Sahil Jain gets statutory bail in Bengaluru gold smuggling case

On May 20 the special court granted bail under similar conditions to Ranya Rao, alias Harshavardini Ranya, 33, and her close associate Tarun Konduru alias Virat Konduru, 36, a Telugu actor arrested on March 9 for smuggling gold in connivance with the actress.

However, the two actors and Sahil Jain, an alleged gold/hawala dealer, will not be released from prison as the Ministry of Finance issued executive orders on April 22 for their preventive detention for a year under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities (COFEPOSA) Act 1974.

The special court for economic offences noted in its bail order for Sahil Jain that “the said accused No.3 (Sahil Jain) is in judicial custody for more than 60 days and till date the prosecution has not filed the final report”. “The submissions of the complainant agency (DRI) as to the accused being served with the detention order under the provisions of COFEPOSA Act 1974 in itself will not be the ground to deny the right vested with the accused No.3 as per the section 187 (3) (ii) of BNSS,” the court observed.

The court ruled that Sahil Jain “is entitled to default bail as contemplated u/sec. 187 (3) (ii) of BNSS, as till date the prosecution/complainant has not chosen to file the complaint in the case on hand,” the court said. He can be released on bail on execution of a personal bond of Rs 2 lakh with two sureties and should not violate bail conditions, the court ruled.

Sahil Jain was arrested on March 26 by the DRI after he was identified during investigations as the intended recipient of 14.2 kg of gold allegedly smuggled from Dubai by Ranya Rao in association with Virat Konduru.

Ranya Rao was arrested following her arrival from Dubai with gold valued at Rs 12.56 crore, which was concealed on her body. On March 9, the DRI arrested Virat Konduru, a US passport holder, after he was identified as the actress’s accomplice in the gold smuggling racket.

The DRI has alleged that Sahil Jain played a central role in disposing of 49.6 kg of gold worth Rs 40.13 crore smuggled from Dubai by Ranya Rao between November 2024 and February 2025. He allegedly transferred Rs 39.39 crore of her earnings to Dubai.

The DRI has alleged that Sahil Jain is part of a sophisticated smuggling network operating in India and abroad and that a prosecution complaint was filed against him by the agency in a Kolkata court on March 5, 2022, in a case involving the smuggling of 41.64 kg of gold.

ED searches offices of Home Minister G Parameshwara’s trust

The CBI and the ED are also investigating the gold smuggling case from criminal and money-laundering angles and have registered cases in this regard.

The ED recently searched properties including offices of an education trust belonging to Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on the grounds that there had been monetary transactions between the trust and Ranya Rao. The trust headquartered in Tumkur is alleged to have paid Rs 40 lakh towards her credit card bills.

The CBI registered an FIR under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988 along with the BNS section for criminal conspiracy on March 7 on the basis of a letter written by DRI Director-General Abhai Kumar Srivastav.

According to the letter to CBI Director Praveen Sood, two foreigners (an Omani and an UAE national) were arrested at Mumbai airport on March 6 while trying to smuggle 21.28 kg of gold valued at Rs 18.92 crore from Dubai. The foreigners had arrived at the airport on multiple earlier occasions as well, the DRI chief’s letter said.

Since the DRI arrested Ranya Rao, who had also travelled multiple times to Dubai allegedly for gold smuggling, the two cases are similar, the agency has stated. “The above two cases detected in quick succession involving passengers making trips from Dubai, the attempted smuggling of large quantities of gold into India and the high frequency of these visits involving Indian and foreign nationals, points to a possible nexus with coordinated smuggling syndicate, possibly operating from Dubai (UAE),” says the DRI chief’s letter to the CBI director.