Bengaluru:
A session court in Bangalore rejected the bail plea of Kannada actress Harshvardhini Ranya alias Ranya Rao on Thursday in the gold smuggling case. This is the third time he could not get relief from the court. According to the prosecution, Ranya has admitted to using the channel related to hawala for the purchase of gold.
In response, the authorities have issued notice to start a judicial inquiry and believe that further financial irregularities will be revealed. In this case, the actress’s associate Tarun Raj is also included, who has been made the second accused.
Officials claim that Ranya has handed over the smuggling Sona to a businessman named Sahil Jain, who was arrested by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Wednesday. In this way, the total number of people arrested in this case has increased to three.
During the hearing, Madhu Rao, advocate of Revenue intelligence Directorate (DRI), revealed that Ranya and Raj made about 26 trips to Dubai, in which they would often leave in the morning and return the same evening. Prior to her arrest, the actress allegedly booked a plane ticket for Raj’s visit, which later handed her over gold in Dubai.
Director General of Police (DGP) rank officer K.K. Gold worth Rs 12.56 crore was seized from Ramchandra Rao’s half -daughter Ranya at the Kemp Gowda International Airport while returning from Dubai on March 3.
After this, a search was conducted at his residence, where the authorities recovered gold jewelery worth Rs 2.06 crore and an Indian currency worth Rs 2.67 crore. After this, the Karnataka government sent the DGP rank official on compulsory leave and questioned him regarding the smuggling case of gold.
Ramchandra Rao has also been questioned regarding this case. Later, the Karnataka government sent the DGP rank official on compulsory leave on 15 March with immediate effect.
Investigators alleged that Ranya misused her stepfather’s name and misused the security protocols made for highly placed officers to avoid investigation at the airport.