Kannada actress Ranya Rao has suffered a major setback in the gold smuggling case. In fact, the karnataka High court on saturday rejected her bail plea. At the same time, the second accused in this case, tarun Raju, has also been denied bail. A bench headed by Justice Savanur Vishwajit Shetty passed an order in this regard.
Case registered under COFEPOSA Act
The court has rejected Ranya Rao's bail plea twice in this case. Meanwhile, a case has been registered against him under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974 (COFEPOSA).
Under this, the central or state government can keep a person in custody for a maximum of 1 year. The Central Economic Intelligence Bureau (CEIB), a main agency working under the Ministry of Finance, has invoked the COFEPOSA Act against the actress and other accused. Sources said the central agencies have taken this step after repeated attempts by Ranya Rao and others in the case to obtain bail.
The gold is worth more than Rs 12.56 crore
Other accused tarun Raju and Sahil Sakaria Jain have also been booked under the COFEPOSA Act. Ranya Rao, stepdaughter of senior IPS officer Ramachandra Rao, was arrested on march 3 for smuggling 14.2 kg of gold. The value of the gold was estimated at over Rs 12.56 crore.
Special team formed for investigation
Ranya Rao and the other two accused in the case are currently lodged in Bengaluru Central Jail. The case is being investigated by the DRI, Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The state government has formed a special team led by a senior IAS officer to investigate the role of DGP Ramachandra Rao. Sources said that the report in this regard has been submitted to the government. The DRI's investigation into the gold smuggling case has revealed that the actress was involved in hawala transactions with Jain, the third accused in the case. The investigation has found that with the help of Jain, Ranya Rao smuggled 49.6 kg of gold and transferred hawala money worth Rs 38.4 crore to Dubai.
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