<p>Bengaluru: After the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday conducted raids in Karnataka in connection with the gold smuggling racket allegedly involving Kannada actress Ranya Rao. </p><p>This is a rare case in which three major central investigation agencies are probing a single offence. </p><p>Harshavardhini Ranya, aka Ranya Rao, has emerged as the prime suspect in the racket after she was arrested at the Bengaluru airport on March 3 for carrying gold bars worth Rs 12.56 crore smuggled from Dubai. </p><p>The DRI also alleged that Ranya misused her stepfather DGP K Ramachandra Rao's name to get VIP escort that allowed her to skip frisking and checks at the airport. </p>.Karnataka High Court bars publication of defamatory content on Ranya Rao's father. <p>According to official sources, the ED has registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act based on the FIR filed by the CBI and the case registered by the DRI. The ED aims to uncover attempted money laundering in payments and hawala transactions in the racket. </p><p>Some reports suggested raids were also conducted in Maharashtra but this could not be verified. </p><p>The sources explained that the ED searched properties belonging to Ranya and the second suspect, Tarun Kondaru Raju, as well as an unnamed astrologer with an office in Bengaluru's RT Nagar. The DRI is also searching the premises, the sources added. </p><p>The CBI registered the FIR on March 7 following a letter from Abhishek Chandra Gupta, Additional Director at DRI in Delhi. The ED probe is based on the CBI FIR. </p><p>In his letter, Gupta quoted two cases busted by the DRI. While the first one is the Ranya case, the second pertains to the arrest of two flyers from the UAE and Oman at the Mumbai airport on March 6. </p><p>In both cases, the suspects flew Emirates, and the DRI recovered a combined 35.48 kg of gold worth Rs 21.59 crore. </p><p>"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)," Gupta wrote in his complaint. </p><p>He continued: "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 coordinated network, needs to be investigated." </p><p>Based on this, the CBI registered the FIR against "unknown public servants and private persons". </p>
<p>Bengaluru: After the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday conducted raids in Karnataka in connection with the gold smuggling racket allegedly involving Kannada actress Ranya Rao. </p><p>This is a rare case in which three major central investigation agencies are probing a single offence. </p><p>Harshavardhini Ranya, aka Ranya Rao, has emerged as the prime suspect in the racket after she was arrested at the Bengaluru airport on March 3 for carrying gold bars worth Rs 12.56 crore smuggled from Dubai. </p><p>The DRI also alleged that Ranya misused her stepfather DGP K Ramachandra Rao's name to get VIP escort that allowed her to skip frisking and checks at the airport. </p>.Karnataka High Court bars publication of defamatory content on Ranya Rao's father. <p>According to official sources, the ED has registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act based on the FIR filed by the CBI and the case registered by the DRI. The ED aims to uncover attempted money laundering in payments and hawala transactions in the racket. </p><p>Some reports suggested raids were also conducted in Maharashtra but this could not be verified. </p><p>The sources explained that the ED searched properties belonging to Ranya and the second suspect, Tarun Kondaru Raju, as well as an unnamed astrologer with an office in Bengaluru's RT Nagar. The DRI is also searching the premises, the sources added. </p><p>The CBI registered the FIR on March 7 following a letter from Abhishek Chandra Gupta, Additional Director at DRI in Delhi. The ED probe is based on the CBI FIR. </p><p>In his letter, Gupta quoted two cases busted by the DRI. While the first one is the Ranya case, the second pertains to the arrest of two flyers from the UAE and Oman at the Mumbai airport on March 6. </p><p>In both cases, the suspects flew Emirates, and the DRI recovered a combined 35.48 kg of gold worth Rs 21.59 crore. </p><p>"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)," Gupta wrote in his complaint. </p><p>He continued: "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 coordinated network, needs to be investigated." </p><p>Based on this, the CBI registered the FIR against "unknown public servants and private persons". </p>
