Gold Smuggling Case: Penalty Of Rs 102 Crore Imposed On The Kannada Actress Ranya Rao By DRI

A fine of Rs 102 crore has been imposed on the Kannada actress Ranya Rao in the gold smuggling case by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, as informed by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence sources and reported in the PTI. Along with the Maanikya actress, the DRI has also levied a penalty of Rs 63 crore on hotelier Tarun Kondaraju. A fine of Rs 56 crore has also been impoased each on jewellers Sahil Sakaria Jain and Bharat Kumar Jain.

The DRI officials reached the Bengaluru Central Jail on 2nd September, 2025

The DRI officials reached the Bengaluru Central Jail on Tuesday (2nd September, 2025) and served a 250-page notice to all four along with 2,500-page annexure as well. Quoting a DRI source, PTI reported, “It was a herculean exercise to prepare a detailed notice along with supporting documents. Today we served 11,000 pages of documents to the accused.” 

Ranya coordinated the smuggling operation: Investigators

It has been alleged by the investigators that Ranya coordinated the smuggling operation. The businessman Tarun Kondaraju is accused of facilitating the transport. The jewellers Sahil Sakharia Jain and Bharat Kumar Jain are alleged to have handled the bullion’s sale. It is alleged that these jewellers have diverted the proceeds through hawala channels.
All four are in custody at Parappana Agrahara Central Prison, as per a Hindustan Times report. 

Ranya made frequent trips to Dubai: Investigations

According to the investigations, Ranya travelled frequently to Dubai (52 trips between 2023 and early 2025) and also used police escorts to avoid the custom screenings. Gold jewellery worth Rs 2 crore and cash with a total of Rs 2.67 crore were also recovered from the residence of Ranya. Ranya is the daughter of the senior IPS officer K Ramachandra Rao and he was sent on leave since the smuggling case surfaced. However, that was revoked later as reported in The Times of India.

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