NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Janata Party leader Amit Malviya on Wednesday shared an image of Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah in the same frame with actress Ranya Rao who was arrested in the alleged gold smuggling case. This comes after deputy CM DK Shivakumar dismissed the reports of any political link with the case.
“The Ranya Rao gold smuggling case in Karnataka has now reached the doorstep of chief minister Siddaramaiah. This dated photo also features the current home minister, G Parmeshwara,” he said.
Taking a swipe at DKS, Malviya said, “Ironically, the man dismissing any political links is none other than Congress’s CM-in-waiting, DK Shivakumar.”
The state ministers have repeatedly denied having any links with the case.
“No minister is involved, we don’t know anything. It is all political gossip. Investigating officers will proceed as per the law. We have nothing to do with it,” Shivakumar told reporters on Monday.
Congress MLA Rizwan Arshad reiterated this claim and said, “It is being investigated by CBI, which is not under the control of the state government but the central government. They have all the freedom to investigate, and if there is anything and anybody involved, let it come out. But we are very clear: nobody from the state government is involved in any kind of small criminal activity.”
Rao was arrested on March 3 by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) at Kempegowda International Airport (KIAD) in Bengaluru for allegedly smuggling 14.8 kilograms of gold from Dubai.
The stepdaughter of DGP K Ramachandra Rao, she was produced before a special court for financial offences on March 4, where she was initially remanded to judicial custody until March 18.
During questioning, she claimed her trip to Dubai was for business purposes, though authorities suspect it was linked to illegal gold smuggling.
She was initially placed in DRI custody until March 10, which was later extended to March 24 as investigations continued.
