Gold smuggling case: Actress Ranya Rao remanded to 3 days in DRI custody

Bengaluru: An economic offences court in Bengaluru on Friday issued an order granting the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) three-day custody of Ranya Rao, who was arrested for smuggling gold into the country, for interrogation and further investigation.

The court had reserved the order on Thursday after the DRI had objected to Ranya’s bail plea as they “recovered evidence following her arrest” needing corroboration.

DRI had cited "national security" when seeking the custody and informed the court that it could not publicly reveal certain "sensitive information" that would "jeopardise the probe" but would provide "key evidence" in a sealed cover.

Ranya has maintained that she was a mule and hence the DRI, after gathering evidence, sought her custody to identify who else were involved or orchestrated the smuggling.

Ranya was arrested at Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) in Bengaluru on Monday after she landed from Dubai via an Emirates flight. The DRI said it had received a tip-off that she was smuggling gold.

She was reportedly paid anywhere between Rs 1 to Rs 4 lakh per kg of smuggled gold per trip. As per sources, investigations revealed that the actor had strapped 14 gold bars to her thighs when she was arrested.

The DRI suspects that Ranya is a mule and that a larger syndicate is behind her. The Central DRI team, which made the arrest, is also probing Ranya’s local network and how she disposed of the smuggled gold.

Ranya also allegedly misused her DGP father K Ramachandra Rao's perks by using a police staff from the Airport police station to escort her out soon after she landed and purportedly used VIP channels to exit the terminal to minimise frisks and checks.