She was arrested on Monday night, after which she was presented before an economic offences court, which remanded her to 14 days in judicial custody
In a surprising incident, the daughter of an IPS officer of the Karnataka Cadre and actor, Ranya Rao, was arrested at the Bangalore International Airport after a whopping 14.8 kg of gold was recovered from her possession. Ranya Rao was arrested by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), along with her husband, at the airport on late Monday evening.
Following her arrest on Monday, she was presented before an economic offences court, which remanded her to 14 days in judicial custody till March 18, they added. As per the officials, Rao had arrived from Dubai on an Emirates flight and had been under surveillance due to her frequent international travel.
The investigators revealed that she had allegedly smuggled the gold by wearing a significant portion of it and concealing gold bars in her clothing. The Airport Authorities grew suspicious after noticing that she had travelled to Dubai four times in the last 15 days, prompting a targeted operation upon her return.
Preliminary investigations suggest that the actress may have attempted to use her connections to bypass customs checks. Reports also suggest that upon landing in Bangalore, she allegedly claimed to be the daughter of the Karnataka Director General of Police (DGP) and contacted local police personnel to escort her home.
Authorities are investigating whether she was acting alone or was part of a larger smuggling network operating between Dubai and India. Rao, known for her role opposite Kannada superstar Sudeep in ‘Maanikya’ (2014), has also appeared in a few other South Indian films.
(With PTI Inputs)
