A particular Justice of the Peace courtroom for financial offences in Bengaluru has allowed a plea by the Directorate of Income Intelligence (DRI) to interrogate the Kannada movie actress Ranya Rao alias Harshavardini Ranya, 34, in jail for 2 days in reference to its findings in a gold smuggling case by which the actress was arrested on March 3.
The DRI approached the particular courtroom for financial offences final week with an utility to query the actress Ranya Rao on the Bengaluru Central Jail relating to an organization she established in Dubai to function a entrance for gold smuggling and her connections to a smuggling syndicate.
The particular courtroom dominated Wednesday that the DRI “has made out legitimate, justifiable and tenable grounds to accord permission to acquire her statements at Central Jail, Bengaluru”.
The courtroom has mentioned that DRI officers “are permitted to acquire the assertion of accused No.1 on 24.04.2025 and 25.04.2025 between 10-30 am and 05-30 pm at Central Jail, Bengaluru with the assistance of laptop computer, key board, printer and different stationary gadgets.”
The particular courtroom order permitting the DRI to query the actress in jail got here even because the Karnataka Excessive Courtroom on April 22 reserved its orders in bail pleas filed by Ranya Rao and her affiliate, the Telugu actor Virat Konduru alias Tarun Konduru, within the gold smuggling case.
The gold smuggling case emerged after Ranya Rao, who’s the daughter of a senior Karnataka police officer, was intercepted on the Bengaluru Worldwide Airport by the DRI on March 3 with 14.2 kg of gold price Rs 12.56 crore hid on her physique.
Ranya Rao arrived from Dubai on an Emirates flight when she was intercepted based mostly on particular intelligence and was later arrested by the DRI.
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The DRI alleged throughout latest courtroom arguments that Ranya Rao and Virat Konduru, 36, and a hawala supplier, Sahil Jain, 26, who was a receiver of the smuggled gold, had been a part of a gold smuggling syndicate that had smuggled over 100 kg of gold since 2024.
“The moment utility discloses investigations having revealed the conspiracy between accused Nos.1 to three and in addition the existence of a syndicate. The investigating company is requesting the permission of this courtroom to acquire the assertion of accused No.1 with respect to incriminating supplies forthcoming from the investigation,” the particular courtroom mentioned.
The DRI has reported in remand functions that the actress smuggled as a lot as 49.6 kg of gold valued at over Rs 40 crore from Dubai between November 2024 and February 2025 (other than the 14.2 kg of gold price Rs 12.56 crore that was seized on March 3 by the DRI). The actress is alleged to have handed over the contraband to the hawala supplier Sahil Jain, who allegedly paid for the consignments by way of hawala transfers to Dubai and India.
The DRI has claimed to have discovered proof, by way of customs declarations and investigations of the accused, of as many as 11 of 31 journeys undertaken by the actors to Dubai in 2024-25 involving smuggling of gold. The quantum of gold smuggled by the syndicate has been estimated by the DRI to be over 100 kg in arguments introduced within the excessive courtroom.