Ranya Rao
Credit: Special Arrangement
Bengaluru: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence suspects that the unaccounted cash seized at Ranya Rao’s residence in central Bengaluru last month was her commission for smuggling gold to Bengaluru and selling it in the city.
In a document it submitted to the court, DRI said, “It appears that the unaccounted cash of Rs 2.67 crore seized from her (Ranya's) residential premises on March 3, as per the mahazar, is likely hawala money received by her as profit from purchasing gold in Dubai and selling it in Bengaluru.”
The central agency said that Sahil Sakariya Jain, accused No 3 in the case, assisted Ranya in the Hawala transactions.
According to DRI, they suspect that in January, Jain helped Ranya in disposing of 14.5 kg of gold worth Rs 11.5 crore and in February, he assisted in disposing of gold worth Rs 11.8 crore.
The central agency claimed that Jain accepted that he helped Ranya in hawala transactions. He allegedly helped her send Rs 11 crore and Rs 11.25 crore to Dubai via Hawala in January and February, respectively. He also accepted having helped Ranya get Rs 55 lakh and Rs 55.81 lakh in January and February respectively in Bengaluru through Hawala.
In total, DRI suspects that Jain has helped Ranya in disposing of 49 kg of gold worth Rs 40.13 crore. He accepted to have helped her by sending Rs 38.3 crore to Dubai via Hawala and getting Rs 1.73 crore through the same channel.
The DRI told the court that he was getting Rs 55,000 as commission for each transaction he was helping her with. They said that Jain’s custody will be sought during the course of the investigation. For now, the DRI is extracting data from Jain’s two mobile phones and a laptop.
On March 3, Ranya, 33, was arrested at the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru when she arrived from Dubai. DRI officials alleged that she had concealed 14.2 kg of foreign-origin gold bars worth Rs 12.56 crore on her person.
Jain was arrested in the last week of March after interrogating Ranya.