Karnataka High Court denies bail to Ranya Rao and Tarun in gold smuggling case

Justice S Vishwajith Shetty pronounced the order, a detail copy of which was awaited.

Rao was arrested at the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru on March 3 after Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials found her in possession of 14.2 kg of gold bars worth ₹12.5 crore, upon her arrival from Dubai, while Raju was taken into custody on March 10.

During the hearing in the high court, Rao’s counsel Sandesh Chouta argued that she had been “falsely implicated in the case”, while advocate Madhukar N Rao, representing DRI, the prosecuting agency in the case, opposed the bail petitions filed by both actor friends and co-accused.

The DRI counsel had informed the court that the agency’s probe so far revealed that 100 kilograms of gold had been smuggled by Rao and Raju to India from Dubai.