Ranya Rao gold smuggling case: Court rejects associate Tarun’s bail

Bengaluru: A Bengaluru court on Wednesday rejected the bail plea of the second suspect arrested by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) in the gold smuggling case involving Kannada actor Ranya Rao.

The Special Court for Economic Offences judge Vishwanath Channabasappa Gowdar rejected the bail application filed by Tarun Konduru Raju, 30, who is named accused 2 in the case.

“The bail application filed by accused No 2 U/s.480 of BNSS, 2023 is hereby rejected. Call on 24-03-2025,” the court noted.

Raju was arrested by the DRI on March 9. After spending five days in the custody of the DRI, he was remanded to judicial custody at the Parappana Agrahara Central Prison, where he will continue to be since the rejection of his bail petition.

Raju, a failed Telugu actor and related to a prominent hotelier in Bengaluru, as per the DRI, maintained close ties with Ranya and was her associate in the gold smuggling attempt.

Ranya was arrested by the DRI on March 3 at the Bengaluru airport after she flew into the city from Dubai. According to the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), she was found carrying 14.2 kg of foreign-origin gold bars worth Rs 12.56 crore.

While rejecting the bail application, the court noted that allegations against Raju of helping Ranya in her smuggling attempts violated the Customs Act. DRI had vehemently argued against granting bail to Tarun. As part of their objections submitted before the court, the DRI had noted that the two were close associates.

According to reports, the DRI had told the court that Raju had used his US citizenship to declare the gold in Dubai to Geneva in Switzerland but then handed it over to Ranya who smuggled it to India. The DRI also submitted that Raju had attempted to flee after Ranya's arrest and was a possible flight risk if granted bail.

The court observed that Tarun misused his privilege, similar to Ranya who possessed a resident identity card of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Hearing in Ranya’s bail plea adjourned

A city civil and sessions court on Wednesday adjourned the hearing of the bail petition filed by Ranya to Friday, March 21. She moved the sessions court after her bail plea was rejected by the Special Court for Economic Offences.

The CCH 64 court ordered the adjournment after the counsel for DRI sought time to file objections. The court had earlier directed the DRI to submit the objections on Wednesday.

“Case called out. Sri M N R Advocate filed M/A for resp and prays time for objection by 21.03.2025,” the court noted.