Ranya Rao Sent To Judicial Custody Till March 24 In Gold Smuggling Case

The Economic Offences Court in Bengaluru on Monday sent Kannada actress Ranya Rao to judicial custody till March 24 in connection with a gold smuggling case. Rao was produced before the bench of Vishwanath C Gowdar at the special court for economic offences in Bengaluru after three days of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) custody.

Rao broke down in the courtroom. When the judge asked if the officials had troubled her, she replied that she was mentally disturbed and had been verbally abused, tortured, and threatened during DRI custody. When the judge questioned her if any officials had physically assaulted her, she replied no.
DRI officials denied all allegations, stating that she was questioned based on available evidence against her and informed the court that the entire interrogation was recorded on CCTV footage, which will be shared with the court if required.

Rao sought two minutes to interact with the advocates, to which the court reacted positively. Rao was arrested on March 3 by the DRI at the Kempegowda International Airport (KIAD) in Bengaluru for allegedly smuggling 14.8 kilograms of gold from Dubai.

Ranya’s arrest followed a tip-off regarding her involvement in smuggling gold into India. DRI officials had stationed a team at the airport to intercept her upon arrival, and she was taken into custody immediately after landing. On March 4, Ranya Rao was produced before a special court for financial offences and was remanded to judicial custody until March 18.