In a major development, Kannada film actress Ranya Rao was taken into custody by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) after officials seized 14.8 kg of gold from her at the Bengaluru International Airport.
The actress, who arrived on an Emirates flight from Dubai on Monday night, had been under surveillance by the DRI due to her frequent trips to Dubai.
Police sources have said that Ranya Rao is related to a current IPS officer who is serving in Karnataka. It was discovered that she had all the gold wrapped around her, trying not to raise suspicion, and also stored gold bars within her clothes. The actress reportedly told officials that she was the daughter of the DGP when she arrived at the airport and would regularly get picked up by police officials herself. Early probes indicate that the police would drop her at her home, questioning if the police staff or the IPS officer was involved or misused their office.
The DRI officials had been keeping an eye on her activities because of her frequent visits to Dubai, four of which were in the past 15 days. After getting information that she was traveling by Emirates flight from Dubai, four DRI officers were stationed at the Bengaluru airport to wait for her arrival. After arresting her and confiscating the gold, she was brought to the DRI Headquarters in Bengaluru for interrogation.
The authorities are probing if Ranya Rao is a member of a smuggling syndicate and if she had smuggled gold in the past cases too. Though no official confirmation has been made, the actress will be taken to a Bengaluru court later on Tuesday.
Ranya Rao, who has worked in several South Indian movies, played the lead role against Kannada superstar Sudeep in the movie Maanikya. She has worked in other movies in different South Indian languages.
