Gold smuggling controversy: Ranya Rao faces 1 year in jail without bail as COFEPOSA gets invoked
Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities
(COFEPOSA) Act, 1974. According to the reports, the Kannada actress can be kept in jail for a whole year without bail.
Mathrubhumi reported that authorities have said that in order to prevent the actress from indulging or conducting any further smuggling activities upon release, the Act was invoked. The reason behind this move has been cited as the non-cooperation of the actress with investigating agencies.
Ranya Rao at the Bengaluru Central Prison
On March 3, Ranya Rao was arrested at the Kempegowda International Airport. 14.2 kg of gold bars worth ₹12.5 crore were found in her possession upon her arrival from Dubai. Another co-accused in the matter, Raju, was arrested on March 9.
As we speak, Ranya Rao, along with the other two accused Tarun Raju and Sahil Sakaria Jain, are in Bengaluru Central Prison.
So far in her defence, Rao's lawyers have said that she has been 'falsely implicated in the case.' They have made attempts for bail, which have been opposed by the senior advocate representing DRI. Citing the reports of the investigation, the opposing counsel told the court that 100 kgs of gold had been smuggled from India to Dubai by the actress and her friend Tarun Raju.
According to the reports, the statistics from the probe say that between January and March of this year, Rao and Raju jointly traveled to Dubai over 20 times. In addition to this, Rao reportedly made a total of 56 trips to Dubai from 2023 to 2025.
Further, alongside the probe by DRI, the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate have launched separate investigations to examine any potential involvement of government officials, including the stepfather of the Kannada actress, DGP Ramachandra Rao, in the smuggling activities.
Karnataka HC refuses bail
Meanwhile, though as aforementioned, reportedly the actress's lawyers are trying to get her out, the Karnataka High Court on Saturday refused to grant bail to Ranya and co-accused Tarun.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
India Today
40 minutes ago
- India Today
Snake venom case: Supreme Court halts trial court proceedings against Elvish Yadav
The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted interim relief to YouTuber Elvish Yadav by staying proceedings against him in connection with the snake venom case.A bench led by Justice MM Sundresh issued notice on Yadav's petition challenging the FIR, chargesheet, and the summoning order passed by the trial court. The trial proceedings would not be allowed to procced in the meantime, the bench has approached the top court against the Allahabad High Court's order which had refused to quash the chargesheet and the trial court's cognisance of the case. In his plea filed before the Top court through Advocate Shahrukh Ali, Advocate Raman Yadav and Advocate Aman Jha, Elvish Yadav has argued that and cognisance of the offence under the Wildlife Protection act has been taken without a complaint filed by a competent officer, adding that police have no authority to investigate offences under the WPA or to file a chargesheet in relation with there is no legally admissible complaint against the petitioner, the disclosure statement alone cannot form the basis for prosecution, the court has argued that at the time of the registration of FIR, he was not present at the venue, and no recovery-whether of snakes, venom, or narcotics-has been made from or in connection with plea also claims that the High Court had dismissed the petition for quashing merely on the ground that graver offences were added in the chargesheet, without examining whether the essential ingredients of the alleged offences were made out against CASE AGAINST ELVISH YADAVThe case dates back to a complaint lodged in November 2023 by members of the NGO People For Animals, who accused Elvish Yadav of organising rave parties where snake venom was used as a recreational intoxicant. In a subsequent police raid at a banquet hall in Noida, nine snakes (including cobras and kraits) and around 20ml of snake venom were was arrested on March 17, 2024, based on the FIR filed under several sections of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, sections 284 and 289 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Section120A (criminal conspiracy), and multiple provisions of the NDPS was remanded for 14 days but released on bail shortly after. The chargesheet filed in April 2024 spanned over 1,200 pages and included allegations of exotic snake smuggling, the involvement of foreign nationals in consuming venom, and links to rave the Supreme Court's stay in place, all proceedings before the trial court are paused for now. The matter is scheduled for further hearing on August 29, when responses are sought from the state and the complainant.- EndsTrending Reel
NDTV
41 minutes ago
- NDTV
Kerala Headmistress Booked For "Casteist Slur" Against Students
Kerala: A case has been registered against the headmistress of an aided school for allegedly using casteist remarks against two fourth grade students and their parents in Haripad in the coastal district, police said on Wednesday. Gracy is the headmistress of the aided lower primary school with a strength of only nine students, including the complainant children. According to parents, Gracy is the only permanent teacher in the institution and used to hurl casteist slurs at children belonging to Backward communities. "There are only nine students in the LP school. This particular teacher and three other contract employees are the only staff. The majority of students in the school belong to the scheduled caste community," a police officer said. The parents claimed that the headmistress would call the children by their caste name during class and even mock their skin tone. When the parents confronted the woman, they said she abused them with casteist slurs. A case was registered under various sections of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, and Kayamkulam DySP is currently investigating the veracity of allegations.
India.com
44 minutes ago
- India.com
High Court takes BIG decision on Kohli's RCB teammate Yash Dayal in minor's rape case
Virat Kohli and Yash Dayal. (PIC - X) New Delhi: The Rajasthan High Court has dismissed a stay on the arrest of Virat Kohli's RCB teammate, fast bowler Yash Dayal in the case of the rape of a minor girl. What were the rulings of the High Court? The court held that as the victim is a minor, no interim relief is possible to the accused cricketer against arrest. Justice Sudesh Bansal hearing the case in Jaipur also ordered the case diary and fixed the next hearing on August 22. What did Yash Dayal's attorney say? Yash Dayal's lawyer, Kunal Jaiman, in the course of the hearing contended that the case was a part of a bigger conspiracy to tarnish the image of the cricketer. He contended that the same case of rape had previously been lodged in Ghaziabad, which was stayed by the Allahabad High Court. 'Just seven days after that, another FIR was registered in Jaipur. A gang seems to be involved in blackmailing by filing such cases,' Yash Dayal's lawyer alleged. What is the Jaipur case? But Sanganer police station in-charge Anil Jaiman revealed the Jaipur case details, adding that the complainant, who was a minor at the time of the incident, had met Yash Dayal while watching a cricket match. She then blamed Yash Dayal for sexually assaulting her nearly two years ago on the assurance of assisting her in her cricket career. The police also said Yash Dayal raped the girl for the second time in Sitapura hotel, Jaipur, during the season of IPL 2025 after the girl was invited to the room by Yash Dayal. Since the girl was 17-years-old at the time of the first rape, an FIR was registered under Sections of IPC and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Interestingly, Dayal had earlier created a commotion by claiming to have posted communal content on his Instagram handle two years back. He later clarified that while two contentious reports were posted from his account, but he did not post them from his account.
