Joint team of central agencies conducts searches in Bengaluru linked to actress Ranya Rao’s gold smuggling arrest
The searches were conducted by the joint team at locations linked to Ranya Rao’s husband Jathin Hukkeri, among others.
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The central agencies are investigating the sources of funds for the gold smuggling racket and the final purchasers of the gold brought into India. (File Photo) A combined team of the Enforcement Directorate, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) Thursday carried out searches at multiple locations in Bengaluru in connection with a gold smuggling racket that emerged on March 3 following the arrest of Kannada actress Ranya Rao at the Bengaluru International Airport.
The searches were conducted by the joint team at locations linked to Ranya Rao’s husband Jathin Hukkeri, who is an architect; at a property belonging to Tarun Konduru Raju, an actor and son of a prominent Bengaluru businessman who allegedly assisted Ranya Rao in the gold smuggling; and to properties of White Gold – the gold-purchase arm of Kerala-origin businessman C J Babu’s group, sources in the Karnataka Police said.
The central agencies are investigating the sources of funds for the gold smuggling racket and the final purchasers of the gold brought into India.
The Kannada film actress whose name on her passport is Harshavardini Ranya, 33, was arrested by the DRI after she arrived from Dubai on an Emirates flight with 14.2 kg of gold bars worth Rs 12.56 crore that had been taped onto different parts of her body with medical plaster and covered with bandages.
Searches at her residence by the DRI after her arrest led to the seizure of gold jewellery worth Rs 2.06 crore and Rs 2.67 crore in cash.
The actress is alleged to have travelled to Dubai as many as 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 has claimed 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.
The actress is alleged to have attempted to evade customs duty to the tune of Rs 4.83 crore.
The CBI has, meanwhile, registered an FIR to investigate the gold smuggling at the Bengaluru airport and a similar incident at the Mumbai airport. The CBI FIR was registered on March 7 on the basis of a letter by Abhai Kumar Srivastav, the Director General (DG) of DRI.
The CBI FIR is registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, along with the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita section for criminal conspiracy.
According to the complaint by the DRI to CBI director Praveen Sood – two foreigners (an Omani and an UAE national) were arrested at the Mumbai international 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 Mumbai airport on multiple earlier occasions as well, the DRI said.
Since the DRI had earlier this month arrested Ranya Rao who had also travelled multiple times to Dubai, the two separate cases were considered similar, the DRI has stated in its letter to the CBI.
“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 DG’s letter to the CBI director.
“This may have larger national and international ramifications. The possibility of involvement of unknown public servants of the Govt. of India and unknown others, with such a coordinated network, needs to be investigated,” states the DRI’s complaint letter.
The DRI has indicated in a special court 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, the DRI has stated.
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