Kannada actress Ranya Rao has been arrested by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) at Bengaluru International Airport for carrying 14.8 kg of gold, officials reported. She was arrested and brought before an economic offenses court, which sent her to judicial custody for 14 days.
Rao, who gained fame following her appearance against Kannada superstar Sudeep in the movie “Maanikya” (2014), arrived on an Emirates flight from Dubai. She had been under surveillance by the authorities due to her heavy foreign travel. The investigators disclosed that she is said to have smuggled the gold by carrying heavy amounts of it and hiding gold bars in her clothes.
Within the course of 15 days, Ranya Rao journeyed to Dubai four times and suspiciously motivated the authorities into initiating a target operation as soon as she re-entered the country. From preliminary investigations, it is discovered that she was trying to bypass customs check by using her authority.
The authorities are also probing whether Rao had acted alone or was part of a larger smuggling organization that works between India and Dubai. The probe is ongoing as the officials try to determine the scale of the operation.
