K’taka gold smuggling case: Ranya Rao booked under COFEPOSA Act

Bengaluru: The Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974 (COFEPOSA), has been invoked against arrested Kannada actress Ranya Rao in connection with a gold smuggling case, sources confirmed on Friday.

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.

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

The Act is invoked in order 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.

The investigation into the gold smuggling case by the DRI has revealed that the actress had been involved in hawala transactions in collusion with Jain, the third accused in the case.

The DRI, in its remand application submitted to the Special Court for Economic Offences in connection with the arrest of Jain in the gold smuggling case, alleged that the jeweller and Ranya Rao were involved in a hawala nexus.

The investigations have found that with the help of Jain, Ranya Rao disposed of 49.6 kg of gold and transferred Rs 38.4 crore of hawala money to Dubai.

The DRI stated, “The investigations have indicated that Jain, hailing from Ballari and settled in Bengaluru, assisted and abetted Ranya Rao in disposing of 49.6 kilograms of gold worth around Rs 40 crore and transferring hawala money of Rs 38.4 crore to Dubai.”

IANS