Bengaluru:
A friend of actor Ranya Rao, who accompanied her to Dubai, has now been arrested in the gold smuggling case as the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) expands its investigation. Tarun Konduraju, who belongs to a prominent business family in Bengaluru, was produced in court.
The thirty-three-year-old actor was arrested last week when a DRI team searched her luggage at Bengaluru airport and found her allegedly smuggling 14 kg of gold from Dubai. Ranya Rao, who started her career with 2014 Kannada film Maanikya, had flown in on an Emirates flight on Monday. She is the stepdaughter of senior IPS officer K Ramachandra Rao.
The Karnataka government has now ordered an investigation into reports that police personnel accompanied the actor at the airport. Ranya Rao allegedly used VIP privileges to bypass security checks during her smuggling operations. The actor allegedly made frequent trips to Dubai and smuggled in gold bars.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which has been tasked with the probe, will also look into whether the actor’s stepfather was involved in her claiming these privileges in his name. It will also probe if any officer neglected his duties to help Ranya Rao conduct her smuggling operations across borders.
Earlier, Ranya Rao’s stepfather said he was shocked and pained by the reports about her. “No words can truly express the depth of my shock, pain, and devastation by the recent developments. This is an extremely difficult time for my family and me, and we are struggling to process it. The officer added, “If there is any violation of law on the part of Ranya, the law will take its course.”
He also said Ranya Rao married Jatin Hukkeri in 2024 and did not visit them or invite them over.
Besides the DRI and Karnataka Police, the CBI has launched a probe into the gold smuggling case involving the actor.
The matter has also sparked a political blame game. The BJP has alleged that the actor approached two ministers in the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government to wriggle out of trouble. The ruling Congress, on the other hand, has tried to put the BJP in the dock and alleged that under the Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP government, the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board allotted land to Ranya Rao in 2023 to set up a steel plant.
