Gold smuggling case: Judicial custody of Ranya Rao, 2 other accused extended till April 21

Bengaluru, April 7 (IANS) A special Bengaluru court on Monday extended, till April 21, the judicial custody of Kannada actress and gold smuggling case main accused Ranya Rao.

The special court for economic offences also extended the judicial custody of the second accused, Tarun Raju, and the third accused, jeweller Sahil Sakaria Jain, till April 21.

All accused are presently lodged at the Bengaluru Central Jail.

The court, which rejected the bail petition of Tarun Raju, will take up the bail petition of Jain on April 9.

Ranya Rao, the stepdaughter of senior police officer Ramchandra Rao, was arrested on March 3 for allegedly smuggling 14.2 kilograms of gold, valued at over Rs 12.56 crore.

The case is presently being investigated by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), the Enforcement Directorate (ED), and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The state government has set up a special team led by a senior IAS officer to look into the role of DGP Ramachandra Rao. The report in this regard has been submitted to the government, sources stated.

The investigation into the gold smuggling case involving Ranya Rao by the DRI has revealed that the actress has been involved in hawala transactions in collusion with Jain, the third accused in the case.

The DRI, in its remand application submitted to the Special Court for Economic Offences in connection with the arrest of Jain in the gold smuggling case, alleged that the jeweller and Ranya Rao were involved in a hawala nexus.

The investigations have found that with the help of Jain, Ranya Rao disposed of 49.6 kg of gold and transferred Rs 38.4 crore of hawala money to Dubai.

The DRI stated: "The investigations have indicated that Jain, hailing from Ballari and settled in Bengaluru, assisted and abetted Ranya Rao in disposing of 49.6 kilograms of gold worth around Rs 40 crore and transferring hawala money of Rs 38.4 crore to Dubai."

--IANS

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