Actress Ranya Rao gets bail in gold smuggling case, but release unlikely

The Special Court for Economic Offences also granted bail to Tarun Konduru Raju, another accused in the case.

 

However, the duo are unlikely to be released from jail as they have already been charged under the stringent Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities (COFEPOSA) Act, 1974. 

 

Under this Act, the accused is not be eligible for bail for at least a year. 

 

In its bail order, the special court directed the two to appear before it on all dates of hearing without fail, not tamper with or hamper witnesses, co-operate with the investigation, not leave the country without prior permission from the court, and not commit similar offences in the future.

 

“It is made clear that any violation of the conditions imposed by this court will result in the cancellation of bail,” it observed.

 

Ranya, the stepdaughter of senior IPS officer K. Ramchandra Rao, was arrested by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on her arrival at Kempegowda international airport in Bengaluru on March 3 after gold bars worth Rs 12.56 crore were seized from her.

 

The agency, in a followup search, allegedly recovered gold jewellery worth Rs 2.06 crore and Rs 2.67 crore in cash from her residence.

 

Ranya is currently lodged at the Bengaluru central prison along with Raju and Sahil Sakaria Jain, another accused.

 

According to investigators, Jain helped Rao dispose of 49.6 kilograms of smuggled gold, worth around Rs 40 crore, and facilitated the illegal transfer of approximately Rs 38.4 crore to Dubai through hawala channels.

 

Both the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) are conducting separate probes into the case.

 

As the case snowballed into a political hot topic in Karnataka, the state government sent Ramchandra Rao to compulsory leave.

India