Bengaluru gold smuggling case: Centre orders detention of actors Ranya Rao, Virat Konduru for a year under Cofeposa Act

Indian Express

25-04-2025

The Centre has issued orders for detention of Kannada film actor Ranya Rao alias Harshavardini Ranya, 34, Telugu actor Virat Konduru alias Tarun Konduru Raju, 36, and businessman Sahil Sakariya Jain, 26, under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities (Cofeposa) Act, 1974.
The order for the detention of Ranya Rao and her associates under the Cofeposa Act was issued by the Central Economic Intelligence Bureau of the Ministry of Finance on April 22, on the request of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI).
The Cofeposa Act detention order effectively means that Ranya Rao, Konduru, and Jain, who were arrested in March for alleged gold smuggling activities, will remain in prison for up to a year, even if they are granted bail by the courts for the Customs Act violation cases against them.
Ranya Rao was intercepted by DRI at the Bengaluru International Airport on arrival from Dubai on March 3, 2025, with 14.2 kg of gold worth Rs 12.56 crore concealed on her person.
The DRI investigations after the arrest of the actress revealed that Ranya Rao was assisted in passing the gold through Dubai customs by Virat Konduru by using his US citizen credentials, and that the smuggled gold was handed to hawala businessman Sahil Jain in India for disposal.
The DRI recently told the Karnataka High Court that the three were part of a gold smuggling syndicate which had smuggled 100 kg of gold into India since 2024 – apart from the 14.2 kg of gold worth that was seized on March 3 when Ranya Rao was intercepted.
According to the April 22 order issued by a joint secretary of the Union Government for the detention of the actress under Cofeposa, Ranya Rao 'will be detained and kept in Central Prison Parappana Agrahara, Bengaluru.' DRI sources said that similar orders have been issued for the detention of Tarun Konduru and Sahil Jain under the Cofeposa Act.
According to statements placed in the courts by the DRI in connection with the investigations of the gold smuggling racket, hawala dealer Sahil Jain has a history of gold smuggling and is named in a DRI complaint in Kolkata for being part of a syndicate that smuggled over 115 kg of gold from Bangladesh in 2019.
The Cofeposa Act allows the Government of India to place under preventive detention individuals who are considered to be a threat to foreign exchange conservation through their involvement in smuggling activities.
The law allows the detention of persons who are involved in smuggling, abetting smuggling, transporting, concealing, or keeping smuggled goods, or abetting the concealing of smuggled goods, up to a maximum period of one year from the date of detention.
The Cofeposa Act can be invoked even when a person is in judicial custody, as is the case with actress Ranya Rao and her associates. Rao, Konduru, and Jain have all filed bail pleas in courts, and the two arrested actors are awaiting the verdict of the Karnataka High Court in their bail pleas – which are expected to be taken up next week, while Jain has approached a sessions court.
The DRI has reported in remand applications that the actress smuggled as much as 49.6 kg of gold valued at over Rs 40 crore from Dubai between November 2024 and February 2025 (apart from the 14.2 kg of gold that was seized on March 3). The actress is alleged to have handed over the contraband to Sahil Jain, who paid for the consignments through hawala transfers to Dubai and India.
The DRI has claimed to have found evidence – through customs declarations and investigations of the accused – of as many as 11 of 31 trips undertaken by the actors to Dubai in 2024-25 involving smuggling of gold. The quantum of gold smuggled by the syndicate has been estimated to be to the tune of over 100 kg by the DRI in arguments in the high court.