Gold smuggling: Karnataka High Court denies actress Ranya Rao bail

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High has denied the bail of Kannada actress Ranya Rao bail in a case charged against her under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974 (COFEPOSA). The case, where others are also added as accused, was related to gold smuggling, Live Law reported.

The Central Economic Intelligence Bureau (CEIB), a nodal agency under the Ministry of Finance, has invoked the COFEPOSA Act against the actress and other accused as per the recommendation of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), probing the case, IANS reported.

Following the invocation of the COFEPOSA Act, the accused, Ranya Rao, will have no chance to get bail for a period of one year.

The Act is invoked to stop the accused from indulging in smuggling once they come out on bail. The Act is also invoked if the accused is seen as not cooperating with the investigating agencies, sources stated.

Sources revealed that the central agencies have taken the step following the repeated attempts by Ranya Rao and others in the case to obtain bail. The other accused, Tarun Raju and Sahil Sakaria Jain, have also been booked under the COFEPOSA Act.

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.

Ranya Rao and the other two accused in the case are presently lodged at the Bengaluru Central Prison.

The case is being investigated by the 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.