Bengaluru, March 7: A Bengaluru court, on Friday, passed an order handing over the custody of Kannada actress Ranya Rao, who was arrested in a gold smuggling case, to the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI).
The Economic Offences Court also did not consider her bail petition and kept it in abeyance. Ranya Rao is currently in judicial custody. The court had earlier reserved the order on the bail petition of the actress in the case following the arguments and counterarguments over the case.
The DRI had strongly argued against the granting of bail to the actress and sought her custody. The counsel representing the DRI submitted that the actress needed to be investigated on matters concerning national security implications and to break the syndicate of gold smuggling.
The court considered the submission by the DRI that her custody was required from March 9 to March 11 to conduct a multi-pronged probe as the involvement of an extensive smuggling syndicate is suspected. It was also submitted to the court that the request for bail should not be entertained in sensitive cases such as this.
The counsel had further stated that certain matters related to the case couldn’t be disclosed in an open court and the DRI would make a submission over the findings of the probe in a sealed cover to the court, otherwise, it would harm the investigation.
The DRI stated that it needs to be investigated on where the gold was supposed to reach. Ranya Rao was used as a delivery girl, and her custody was required to investigate the role of other persons in the case, it said.
The counsel stated that the DRI has been able to make significant progress in the investigation since the arrest of the actress on Monday night, and the law allowed the custody of the accused persons in such cases up to 40 days. The counsel also quoted the Supreme Court ruling in this regard.
On the other hand, the counsel for Ranya Rao contended that her custody was not required. Sources also stated that Ranya Rao had claimed in the investigation that she was blackmailed and forced to transport the gold, and she was indulging in such an act for the first time. However, sources also stated that she was under watch for a long period after suspicious frequent Dubai trips.
The DRI officials arrested Ranya Rao after seizing 14.8 kg of gold from her at the Bengaluru International Airport on Monday night. The agency seized Rs 2.06 crore worth of gold and Rs 2.67 crore in cash from her upscale Lavelle Road flat, where she reportedly paid Rs 4.5 lakh in rent.
IANS