A sessions court in Bangalore on March 27 rejected the bail plea of Kannada film actress Ranya Rao in the gold smuggling case. This was the third time she was refused bail.
According to the prosecution, Ranya admitted to using hawala channels to facilitate gold purchases. In response, the authorities have issued a notice to initiate a judicial investigation. The case also involves Tarun Raj, an aide of the actress, who has been named the second accused.
Officials believe, Ranya handed over the smuggled gold to a merchant named Sahil Jain, who was arrested by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence on March 26.
The DRI lawyer revealed that Ranya and Tarun made around 26 trips to Dubai together. Gold bars valued at Rs. 12.56 crore were seized from Ranya at the Bangalore airport on March 3.
