Gold smuggling case:Ranya Rao imposed with Rs 102 cr penalty

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has imposed a penalty of Rs102 crore on Kannada actress Ranya Rao in connection with a large-scale gold smuggling case that came to light earlier this year.Rao was arrested on March 3 after she attempted to bring 14.2 kilograms of gold from Dubai into the country through Kempegowda International Airport.DRI probe revealed that Rao made frequent trips to Dubai and allegedly used police escorts to avoid customs screenings. Gold jewellery worth Rs2 crore and cash totalling Rs2.67 crore were also recovered from her residence.

Along with her, the DRI imposed a penalty of Rs 63 crore on hotelier Tarun Kondaraju and Rs 56 crore each on jewellers Sahil Sakaria Jain and Bharat Kumar Jain. On Tuesday, the DRI officials reached the Bengaluru Central Jail and served each of them a 250-page notice along with 2,500-page annexure."It was a herculean exercise to prepare a detailed notice along with supporting documents. Today we served 11,000 pages of documents to the accused," a DRI source told PTI. Rao is the step-daughter of Director General of Police rank officer K Ramachandra Rao.

Following Ranya Rao's arrest, her husband Jatin Hukkeri came on the radar. Hukkeri sought legal relief by applying for exemption from arrest, citing that they had separated about a month after their marriage, around December 2024 -- highlighting that they were living apart at the time the case unfolded. The Karnataka High Court granted temporary protection, preventing any immediate action against him until the next hearing.

(State Correspondent)