The Directorate of Income Intelligence (DRI) has made a 3rd arrest within the gold smuggling case involving Kannada actress Ranya Rao and Telugu actor Virat Konduru. Sahil Sakariya Jain, a businessman from Ballari, was arrested for allegedly serving to the actress promote the gold she smuggled into India from Dubai.
Jain was arrested on Wednesday morning and introduced earlier than a Justice of the Peace. He’s additionally accused of acquiring a share of the proceeds from the sale of the smuggled gold. He’s alleged to have helped the actress on a number of events.
Ranya Rao was arrested at Bengaluru Worldwide Airport on March 3, after arriving from Dubai with 14.2 kg of gold value Rs 12.56 crore wrapped on her physique. She is accused of trying to evade Rs 4.83 crore in customs responsibility by not declaring the gold to customs authorities and as a substitute strolling by means of a inexperienced channel with the escort of a Bengaluru police protocol official.
Ranya Rao is the stepdaughter of DGP-rank IPS officer Okay Ramachandra Rao. The DRI claims that the police protocol service out there on the airport was misused for gold smuggling by his stepdaughter.
On March 9, the DRI arrested Tarun Konduru Raju, alias Virat Konduru, an affiliate of the actress, after forensic evaluation of her cell phone and laptop computer revealed hyperlinks to him. Ranya Rao is alleged to have financed gold purchases in Dubai by means of Konduru, utilising his US passport to cross gold consignments by means of Dubai customs earlier than smuggling them to Bengaluru.
The actress reportedly travelled to Dubai 27 occasions in 2025 alone, making 25 single-day journeys to deliver again gold on the market in India. The DRI is investigating the supply of funds for the gold purchases and journey tickets for Ranya Rao and her affiliate, alleging that the funds have been transferred by means of hawala routes. The company can be investigating the ultimate purchasers of the smuggled gold in India.
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