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Kannada actress Ranya Rao, who was detained at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru, has confessed to Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials that this was her maiden attempt to smuggle gold from Dubai to India.
As per reports, Rao said she learned how to hide gold bars from watching videos on YouTube. “I fixed the gold bars to my body in the toilet of the airport and stashed them in my jeans and shoes,” she admitted, clarifying that she had never previously brought or bought gold from Dubai.
Mystery calls and Dubai instructions
Rao further revealed that she had also been getting calls from suspicious foreign numbers for two weeks before the incident. She received a call on March 1, asking her to visit Gate A of Terminal 3 of Dubai Airport, where she was asked to pick up the gold and distribute it in Bengaluru.
At Dubai airport, Rao bought crepe bandages and scissors and used them to strap the gold bars on her body within a toilet stall. In her thorough description, she professed not to know who the caller was, having described him as a light-skinned, six-foot-tall man with an African-American accent.
Arrest and judicial custody
Rao was detained by DRI officials on March 3 at Bengaluru airport while trying to smuggle around 14.2 kg (reports also state 14.8 kg) of gold valued at around ₹12.56 crore. The gold, disguised in biscuit form strapped onto her body, resulted in a high-profile probe because of her personal relationship as the stepdaughter of Karnataka DGP K Ramachandra Rao.
She was produced before a special court on March 4 on financial offence charges. The Economic Offences Court sent her to judicial custody until March 18, giving her a 30-minute daily meeting with her attorney during her first three days of custody.
Investigation and legal proceedings
Under interrogation, Rao insisted that her Dubai trip was for business, although investigators believe there is a direct connection to the gold smuggling racket. The court underlined that while further investigation is ongoing,
Rao should be treated with minimum human dignity and given essentials, cautioning against any kind of tough treatment during the probe.
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