Ranya Rao
Credit: Special Arrangement
Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday ordered notice to the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), the Airport Authority of India (AAI) and the union government in a petition filed by the mother of actress Ranya Rao, arrested in the gold smuggling case.
The petitioner Rohini has sought a direction to the authorities at Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) to preserve the CCTV footage in relation to her case. Justice M Nagaprasanna has adjourned the hearing to Wednesday, April 2.
The petitioner contended that as per the prevailing practice, the CCTV footage/data gets automatically deleted after 30 days. The petitioner prayed the court to intervene in the matter and pass appropriate direction to the authorities.
On credible information, Ranya Rao was intercepted at about 6.30 pm on March 3, 2025 at the airport and later arrested. The DRI authorities had recovered gold weighing 14213.05 grams valued at Rs 12,56,43,362, on her body, wrapped around her waist, calf muscles with the help of crepe bandage and tissues.
Moves HC seeking bail
In a related development, Ranya Rao has moved the high court seeking bail. The petition is likely to come up for hearing later this week or early next week. On March 27, the Sessions court had rejected her bail petition. Earlier, on March 14, 2025, the Special Court for Economic Offences, Bengaluru had rejected bail to her.