Kannada film actor Ranya Rao, 33, who was caught for allegedly smuggling gold at the Kempegowda international airport (KIA) on Monday, was produced before the Special Court for Economic Offences and remanded in Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) custody for three days.
While Ranya Rao maintained that she was a mule and used to get payment for every trip she made to Dubai, the DRI which probed the case by analysing call record details and her contact list suspects that she was part of the international smuggling racket.
Securing her custody was to get more clarity on the persons she was working for and the possible involvement of others in the racket, sources said.
Ranya Rao had used her stepfather’s name to avail herself of the protocol facility at the airport to hoodwink security checks .
The actor is the stepdaughter of a senior IPS officer, K. Ramachandra Rao, who is serving as Director-General of Police, Karnataka State Police Housing Corporation.
DRI officials who studied her travel history kept a watch and zeroed in on her soon after she landed at KIA from Dubai.
Citing the case as one involving national security concerns, DRI officials informed the court that they could not publicly reveal certain “sensitive information” that would “jeopardise the probe” but would submit probe details and prime evidence in a sealed cover.
Published – March 07, 2025 08:54 pm IST