Karnataka High Court rejects bail pleas of Ranya Rao, Tarun Konduru Raju in gold smuggling case
Ranya Rao is accused of smuggling 14.2 kg of gold worth Rs 12.56 crore from Dubai. She was arrested on March 3 at the Bengaluru airport while allegedly attempting to evade customs duty to the tune of Rs 4.83 crore by strapping the gold on her body using bandages.
She moved the high court for bail after a sessions court denied the same, citing the alleged use of the hawala route to transfer funds to purchase the gold. A special court for economic offences had also rejected a bail application by the alleged hawala agent, Sahil Jain.
Previously, Ranya Rao's counsel had argued that there were procedural irregularities in the search carried out against her. It was argued that as per Section 102 of the Customs Act, the subject of the search had to be taken before a gazetted officer or magistrate, whereas in this case, the gazetted officer was also the investigating officer of the case. The counsel also stated that her relatives should have been informed of the arrest in writing and not just telephonically.
He also pointed out that Ranya Rao was a woman accused who had been imprisoned for 45 days, whereas bail was usually granted for offences under the Customs Act which attracted under seven years imprisonment.
On the other side, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) stated that apart from the seized amount of 14.2 kg, 100 kg of gold had been smuggled from Dubai by the accused, with there being evidence of smuggling by the actors in 11 out of 31 trips. The DRI also alleged that the two accused used Konduru's US passport to pass large quantities of gold through Dubai Customs checks, claiming that the gold was being taken to Geneva, Bangkok, and the US.
Meanwhile, a special court for economic offences has allowed the DRI to interrogate Ranya Rao for two days in prison.
The Centre has issued orders to detain the accused under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities (Cofeposa) Act, 1974. This would allow detention for up to a year even if bail is granted, as previously reported by the Indian Express.
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