Kannada actor Ranya Rao was granted bail in a gold smuggling case on Tuesday alongside co-accused Tharun Raju Konduru. The duo had filed a plea earlier this month after the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence failed to submit its chargesheet within the mandatory period. The Special Court for Economic Offences in Bengaluru has imposing strict conditions for release. She is however likely to remain in jail under the stringent COFEPOSA which allows for preventive detention up to a year without the possibility of regular bail.
Rao has remained in judicial custody since her arrest in March over links to a smuggling racket. She was apprehended at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru and produced before a special judge for financial offences in early March. According to DRI officials, the actor had arrived from Dubai on an Emirates flight with 14.8 kilograms of gold in her possession. The DRI team had stationed themselves at the airport two hours prior to arrival after being tipped off about her involvement in gold smuggling.
She is currently lodged at the Bengaluru central prison along with two others — Tarun Raju and Sahil Sakaria Jain — who have also been booked under the COFEPOSA Act.
The Central Economic Intelligence Bureau had later invoked the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act against the actor. A case to revoke COFEPOSA against Rao will come up before the advisory beard of the Karnataka High Court in the next two months and requires approval to remain in place. A plea filed by her mother challenging her detention under the Act is also scheduled to be heard on June 3.
According to officials, the stringent charges were applied after multiple attempts were made by the accused to secure bail.The Karnataka government has formed a special team, led by a senior IAS officer, to probe the potential involvement of DGP Ramchandra Rao in the smuggling racket.
The DRI also claimed during a court hearing towards the end of April that Rao (whose real name is Harshavardhini Ranya) had admitted to using the illegal ‘hawala’ network to transfer funds for purchase of gold. During a bail hearing, advocate Madhu Rao said the accused had confessed to conducting financial transactions through unofficial channels — further strengthening the case against her.
Ranya Rao, the stepdaughter of senior police officer K Ramchandra Rao, is known for her role in films like ‘Maanikya’ and ‘Pataki’.
(With inputs from agencies)