Actress Ranya Rao Claims YouTube Videos Taught Her Gold Smuggling, Caught at Airport

Bengaluru: Indian actress Ranya Rao, currently being held by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), has told investigators that this was her first attempt to smuggle gold. The actress admitted she learned how to hide the gold by watching videos on YouTube.

Rao, who is the stepdaughter of a high-ranking Karnataka police officer, DGP K Ramachandra Rao, was arrested at Bengaluru airport. She was caught trying to bring in 14.2 kilograms of gold, valued at 12.56 crore rupees. The gold was in the form of biscuits and was strapped to her body.

According to her statement to officials, Rao said she received calls from unknown foreign numbers starting on March 1st. She claimed these calls instructed her to go to Gate A at Terminal 3 of Dubai Airport. There, she was told to collect gold and transport it to Bengaluru.

“This was the first time I’ve smuggled gold from Dubai to Bengaluru. I have never brought or bought gold from Dubai before,” Rao stated, seemingly changing her earlier statements to DRI.

Rao explained that she bought crepe bandages and scissors at the Dubai airport. She then went to a restroom at the airport and used these items to attach the gold bars to her body.

“The gold was wrapped in two plastic packets. I attached the gold bars to my body in the airport bathroom. I hid the gold in my jeans and shoes. I learned how to do this from YouTube videos,” Rao reportedly told the revenue intelligence officers.

However, Rao said she did not know who the person who called her was, or the identity of the person who instructed her. “I’m not really sure who called me. The caller sounded like he had an African-American accent,” she claimed.

She also stated that at the Dubai airport, an unknown man handed her the gold bars after she went through a security check. She said this man left immediately after giving her the gold and she never saw him again. She described him as being around 6 feet tall and fair-skinned.

When questioned about who was supposed to receive the smuggled gold in Bengaluru, Rao said she was instructed to deliver it to another unknown person. She was told to go to a service road after the airport toll gate and leave the gold in an autorickshaw near a traffic signal, but was not given the autorickshaw’s number.

Rao told the DRI that she was asked to pick up gold from one unknown person and give it to another unknown person, suggesting she was part of a smuggling operation.

Rao also admitted that she used a credit card belonging to someone named Jatin Vijay Kumar to purchase her plane ticket. In her statement, Rao tried to explain her frequent international travel by saying it was for “photography and real estate business.” She claimed to have travelled to various places including Europe, America, Africa, and the Middle East multiple times.