Citing Dubai resident card, DRI opposes bail plea of actress Ranya Rao, held in gold smuggling case

The actress is alleged to have travelled to Dubai 27 times in the span of six months. The DRI has suggested that some of these trips may have also involved gold smuggling.

The DRI claimed that gold smuggling at the Bengaluru International Airport was done using state police protocol services and that the actress was intercepted after she claimed that she had nothing to declare at the customs area and used a green channel to exit the area.

A physical search of the actress after she exited the customs area revealed 14.2 kg of gold bars taped onto different parts of her body using medical plaster and bandages, the DRI counsel told the special court.

The burden of proof in disproving a smuggling case where contraband goods are found on a person lies with the person itself, the DRI counsel argued.

Ranya Rao is the step daughter of a senior police officer in Karnataka of the rank of Director General of Police. In the bail arguments on Wednesday, the DRI also placed in court a statement given by the police protocol official at the airport which stated that he had been instructed to provide protocol services to the family of the police officer.

The protocol officer’s statement indicated that he was called on March 3 by Ranya Rao and informed of the need for the protocol service upon her arrival from Dubai.

The DRI argued that Ranya Rao received funds through hawala channels to buy gold in Dubai and arranged for the transfer of the gold. The gold smuggling operation indicates the existence of a syndicate and there is a need to find the source of funds for the activities of the actress and an associate who has been arrested, the DRI told the special court.

“The international links need to be probed. The preliminary probe suggests that she is arranging money from sources. How the money was transferred has to be investigated and the probe suggests she arranged for the purchase and transport,” the counsel argued.

In documents placed before the court the DRI has referred to customs declarations made in Dubai by the actress during past visits to the UAE — which were found at her home during a search after her arrest.

The customs declarations, dated November 13, 2024 and December 20, 2024, indicate that she had claimed in Dubai that she was transporting gold consignments to Geneva but instead moved the gold to India. The DRI has said that the actress evaded customs duty to the tune of Rs 4.83 crore by smuggling 14.2 kg of gold on March 3.

The DRI has also indicated that Ranya Rao is a key player in a gold smuggling syndicate. The DRI has arrested an associate of the actress, Tarun Raju, who allegedly procured the gold in Dubai at the behest of the actress and gave it to her for transporting to India. Raju is linked to a prominent business family in Bengaluru.

Raju, who was arrested on March 9 by the DRI six days after the actress was held, was a partner of the actress and often travelled to Dubai and other places for her, sources said. She is alleged to have arranged the travel of Raju ahead of her own visit to Dubai to bring back the 14.2 kg of gold.

The defence counsels for the actress argued that the arrest and search process at the airport was not as per prescribed rules. The special court has reserved its orders in the matter.