Kannada actress Ranya Rao and associates to be released after one year of Cofeposa detention for 100-kg gold smuggling

The release of Ranya Rao, 34, Telugu actor Tarun Konduru, 36, and Sahil Sakariya Jain, 26, a hawala dealer with a history of involvement in gold smuggling in India, will incidentally happen a week after the Supreme Court upheld their Cofeposa detentions on petitions filed by the family members of Rao and Jain.

“Suffice it to state that adequate procedural compliance has been made by the respondent(s) while passing the Detention Order dated 22.04.2025, which is under challenge,” a bench of Justices M M Sundresh and N K Singh ruled on April 16 while upholding a Karnataka High Court order that deemed the Cofeposa detention legally valid.

“The Cofeposa detention was for one year from April 22, 2025, and the accused will be eligible for release from prison on April 22, 2026, at the end of the year but will have to face the trial proceedings in the DRI case for gold smuggling,” a central government source said.

The Central Economic Intelligence Bureau of the Ministry of Finance issued orders for the detention of Ranya Rao, Tarun Konduru Raju, and Sahil Sakariya Jain under Cofeposa on April 22 and 23, 2025. The orders were issued at the DRI’s request.

The Cofeposa Act detention order meant that Ranya Rao, Konduru, and Jain would remain in prison for a year after being granted bail by the courts for the Customs Act violation cases against them.

The DRI intercepted Ranya Rao at Bengaluru International Airport upon her arrival from Dubai on March 3, 2025, allegedly concealing 14.2 kg of gold worth Rs 12.56 crore on her person.

The DRI investigations revealed that Ranya Rao was assisted in passing the gold through Dubai customs by Tarun Konduru using his US citizen credentials and that the smuggled gold was handed to Sahil Jain in India for disposal.

The DRI found that the trio were part of a gold smuggling syndicate that had smuggled 100 kg of gold into India since 2024, apart from the 14.2 kg of gold that was seized on March 3 when Ranya Rao was intercepted.

According to the April 22, 2025, order issued by a joint secretary of the Government of India for the detention of the actress under Cofeposa, the order is issued “with a view to preventing her from smuggling goods, engaging in transporting, concealing and keeping smuggled goods”.

The order said the actress “will be detained and kept in Central Prison Parappana Agrahara, Bengaluru”

A similar order was issued for the detention of Tarun Konduru and Sahil Jain under the Cofeposa Act.

The Cofeposa Act 1974 allows the Government of India to place under preventive detention individuals considered to be a threat to foreign exchange conservation through their involvement in smuggling activities.

The law allows the detention of people involved in smuggling, abetting smuggling, transporting, concealing or keeping smuggled goods, or abetting the concealing of smuggled goods upto a maximum period of one year from the date of detention.

DRI seeks 7-year imprisonment

In November 2025, the DRI filed a prosecution complaint seeking the maximum punishment of seven years of imprisonment for Ranya Rao and associates for the smuggling of over 100 kg of gold worth over Rs 102 crore in the 2024-2025 period. The prosecution complaint has sought the punishment under section 135 of the Customs Act 1962.

The prosecution complaint running into 350 pages, along with 2,200 pages of related documents, was filed before a special court for economic offences.

During the course of investigations, the DRI had questioned Ramachandra Rao, an officer of the rank of director- general of police, regarding his knowledge of the gold smuggling racket in which the actress was arrested.

IPS officer questioned on smuggling by stepdaughter

The DGP-rank officer was questioned regarding his stepdaughter’s use of an official state car when she returned from Dubai following some of the alleged smuggling trips.

Ramachandra Rao, who was sent on compulsory leave in March 2025 by the Karnataka Government following the arrest of his stepdaughter, was reinstated on August 11, 2025, and appointed as the DGP at the directorate for civil rights enforcement.

He was later suspended in connection with a video of alleged illicit relationships in his office.