Bengaluru:
Actor Ranya Rao’s gold smuggling racket involved a huge syndicate and she got through airports with the help of the State Protocol Officer who was also part of the racket, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence or DRI, which is also investigating the smuggling case, told a court today.
The DRI, which was opposing the bail of the 33-tear-old — who was arrested with 14 kg of gold in Bengaluru’s Kempegowda airport on March 3 — said that day, it was the State Protocol Officer who escorted her out of the airport. She was caught just a step or two before the exit.
The agency said today that Ranya Rao had passed through the immigration and the Green Channel with the help of the State Protocol Office, and alleged the department was involved.
“We (the DRI) had intercepted there once she passed the Green Channel. She had no intention of declaring what she was carrying,” the DRI counsel added.
“We have summoned the State Protocol Officer and received his statement,” the DRI said.
The agency also contended that huge money was arranged and transferred through hawala and they are investigating that channel.
“It shows that a syndicate was operating,” the DRI said. Contending that the actor is not cooperating with the Investigation, the DRI said, “We oppose her bail as it’s a matter of National Security. We have to Investigate the hawala channel”.
The agency also said that Ranya Rao, who has been to Dubai 27 times in the last six months, has the Resident Identity Card of the UAE.
Ranya Rao, stepdaughter of Indian Police Service officer Ramachandra Rao, is currently in judicial custody which will end on March 24, but the court is expected to take a call on her bail petition tomorrow.
Ranya Rao had come under the lens of the DRI due to her frequent foreign trips. Within the last six months, she had made 27 trips to Dubai, and also the United States.
Following her arrest, a search of her home in Bengaluru’s Lavelle Road yielded gold jewellery worth Rs. 2.06 crore and Indian currency amounting to Rs. 2.67 crore,” the DRI said.
