Tarun ‘misused’ US citizenship to help Ranya Rao smuggle gold: DRI tells court

Bengaluru: Kannada actress Ranya Rao received the smuggled gold from Tarun Konduru Raju at the Dubai airport, according to the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI).

Raju, an American citizen who once acted in Telugu films, "misused" his US passport and acted as a key "international link" to abet the crime, the DRI argued before a special court while successfully opposing his bail plea on Wednesday.

An order, detailing the grounds for rejecting the bail, was issued by Special Court of Economic Offences judge Vishwanath Channabasappa Gowdar on Thursday. A copy of the order is with DH.

The DRI submitted to the court that Raju, accused number 2, had travelled to Dubai from Hyderabad on March 3 and returned to Hyderabad the same day after handing over the gold to her in Dubai.

As part of their modus operandi, the suspects declared the gold to be exported to Geneva in Switzerland and Bangkok in Thailand but instead smuggled it to India after crossing Dubai customs. This was done by misusing Raju's US citizenship, which permitted travel to Geneva and Bangkok without a visa, and the Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card of Raju, the court noted.

The court noted that Raju was a flight risk since he possessed a US visa.

Raju, 36, was arrested by the DRI on March 9, six days after they allegedly caught red-handed Ranya at the Bengaluru airport with concealed gold worth Rs 12.56 crore.

The court observed that DRI vehemently claimed that Raju, an unsuccessful Telugu actor, was one of the "international links" used by Ranya to smuggle gold into India.

Taking note of the DRI's argument that Raju misused his US citizenship and the OCI card, the court said:
"[This] inclines the court to gather the criminal intention of the accused no 2 (Raju) to deceive the Government of India by evading the payment of Customs duty (Rs 4.83 crore) at this stage of proceedings," the court observed.

The court also relied upon the grounds that Raju had travelled with Ranya to Dubai and returned the same day on 25 earlier occasions which justified the DRI’s arguments of his "active role in the alleged smuggling activity contrary to the provisions of Customs Act and Baggage Rules".

The apprehension of the complainant that the accused no 2 will throttle the witnesses and flee away from the process of court cannot be ruled out at this juncture, the court observed.

“The grounds set out by the accused no 2 in the bail application as well as during arguments are the subject matter of trial, as the alleged offence is having serious ramifications for the entire economy of the country. Moreover, the same is the subject matter of trial: the very fact that the accused having abetted and assisted the accused no 1 (Ranya) is sufficient to gather his "mens rea" to commit an offence," noted the court as it rejected the bail application.

Among other things, Raju’s counsel argued that his family had deep roots in Bengaluru, even though he was born a US citizen, and had no previous antecedents. They also claimed that Raju was ready to cooperate fully and abide by any conditions imposed by the court and was willing to offer sufficient surety.

It was also revealed by his counsel that in December 2024, he exited from Vira Diamonds, which was started by him and Ranya in Dubai in 2023. The DRI had strongly opposed the bail and claimed that Raju had an active role as revealed by forensic analysis of digital evidence seized from Ranya.