Ranya Rao Bail Hearing Live Updates: Kannada actress bail plea to be heard today

A special court for economic offences Wednesday rejected the bail petition of Tollywood actor Tarun Konduru Raju, who was arrested along with Sandalwood actor Ranya Rao for allegedly smuggling 14.2kg of gold bars from Dubai.Special judge Vishwanath C Gowdar rejected the bail for Raju, who was arrested on March 8 and is in judicial custody of Bengaluru Central Prison. Read more

The gold smuggling case involving Sandalwood actor Ranya Rao, who is the daughter of director general of police Ramachandra Rao, has taken several intriguing twists and turns. And the latest in the series is ‘strong denials.'The suspects — who are being probed by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Enforcement Directorate (ED) and CBI – have started refuting their initial statements making the case more complex. Alleged mastermind Ranya Rao, who was caught by DRI sleuths at the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) while smuggling in 14.2kg gold from Dubai on March 3, changed her tack by shooting a five-page letter from inside the prison stating that she has been falsely implicated in the case.

With the gold smuggling racket involving Sandalwood actor Ranya Rao getting murkier by the day as three central investigation agencies keep digging deeper, the state govt on Saturday ordered senior IPS officer and director general of police (Karnataka Police Housing Corporation) K Ramachandra Rao to go on 'compulsory leave'.The spotlight fell on Ramachandra after his daughter Ranya was arrested at Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) here by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on March 3 when she was trying to smuggle in 14.2 kg of gold from Dubai.

A special court in Bengaluru on Wednesday denied the bail application of Telugu actor Tarun Konduru Raju, who was arrested on March 10 in connection with a gold smuggling case involving Kannada actor Ranya Rao.The Economic Offences Court rejected the bail plea of Tarun Raju, who is the second accused in the case. The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) had opposed his bail, arguing that he might attempt to flee the country if released. The agency also pointed out that Raju had allegedly tried to leave the country after Ranya Rao’s arrest, leading to a lookout circular being issued against him.

As investigations into the gold smuggling case involving Kannada actress Ranya Rao intensify with three central agencies probing deeper, the Karnataka government issued orders directing DGP (Karnataka Police Housing Corporation) Ramachandra Rao, the actress's father, to proceed on 'compulsory leave'. The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence officials apprehended Ranya at Bengaluru airport on March 3 whilst attempting to smuggle 14.2 kg gold from Dubai. A police constable, assigned for IPS officers' protocol duties, was accompanying her at the time. During interrogation, the constable disclosed that he was instructed to receive Ranya upon her return from international travel, whilst being unaware of the smuggling activity.

Accused number 2 Tarun Konduru Raju was identified by DRI as Ranya's business associate in Vira Diamonds, with direct involvement in gold smuggling operations. Being a US passport holder, he allegedly collected gold in Dubai, obtained customs clearance by declaring Geneva as the destination, and delivered it to Ranya before flying back to Hyderabad within the same day.