Gold smuggling case: A whopping 100kg trafficked in operation led by actress Ranya Rao

Dubai: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), India’s top anti-smuggling agency, told the Karnataka High Court on Monday that Kannada actress Ranya Rao and Telugu actor Virat Konduru were involved in smuggling 100 kg of gold into India, as part of an ongoing racket.

According to a report in The Indian Express, the agency stated that through the analysis of the Customs declarations made in a foreign country by the two accused and the amount of gold found to have been received by hawala dealer Sahil Jain, who has also been arrested in the case.

The investigation found that 100 kg of gold was smuggled, apart from the 14.2 kg of gold seized from Ranya Rao at the Bengaluru airport on March 3.

The agency also said that it had found evidence of gold smuggling in 11 of the 31 visits undertaken by the actors from abroad since early 2024. It added that it was looking for more evidence to link their trips to instances of gold smuggling.

The counsel for the DRI, Madhu N Rao, told the single-judge bench during the arguments that it had obtained four more Customs declarations pertaining to 2024 during the investigations. The court directed the DRI counsel to provide all details of the declarations.

The high court also asked the DRI counsel how Ranya Rao had obtained special protocol services available to government officials at the Bengaluru airport during her return trips from the US. The counsel said that Ranya availed the protocol services at the airport on account of instructions given by her stepfather, senior DGP-rank police officer Ramachandra Rao, to a police constable who was handling the protocol services at the airport.

The high court will hear the case again today on April 22.