After investigators raided Ranya Rao’s Bengaluru house, they found gold jewelry valued at ₹2.06 crore and ₹2.67 crore in cash, the DRI (Directorate of Revenue Intelligence) seized a total of ₹17.29 crore worth of Gold from her possession. Reportedly, Ranya Rao made 30 trips to Dubai in the last 12 months. According to reports, the actress, who has only appeared in three movies to date, brought back a significant amount of gold and received ₹1 lakh per kilogram of the smuggled item.
Rao made between ₹12 and ₹13 lakh every trip as a result. “The lady passenger has been placed under arrest under the relevant provisions of the Customs Act, 1962, and remanded to judicial custody,” the DRI informed. She was remanded to 14-day judicial custody on 4th March.
Ranya Rao used modified jackets and waist belts to smuggle the precious metal to get past airport security, based on preliminary investigation. She was under monitoring for the past few weeks because of her frequent journeys to Dubai. Moreover, she was able to avoid scrutiny via protocol rights that are usually reserved for bureaucrats. She was assisted by an airport police personnel in evading security procedures. She was also picked up in a government vehicle to dodge any checking on the road.
The authorities believe that Rao is involved in a broader smuggling network that could include officers, businessmen and politicians. She was about to advance through airport security on her way back when DRI officials caught her. Ranya Rao reportedly alleged, during police interrogation, that she was blackmailed into smuggling gold. Despite having no obvious family or commercial connections to Dubai, authorities are currently looking into her numerous trips there with her spouse, Jatin Hukkeri. The authorities are analysing videos of her past arrivals to determine the full scale of the crime.
Meanwhile, DGP (Director general of police) Ramachandra Rao, her stepfather, disassociated himself from her actions and stated, “I was also shocked and devastated when such an incident came to my notice through the media, I was not aware of any of these things and like any other father, I was also shocked. She got married four months ago and hasn’t visited us since. She is not living with us. She is living separately with her husband. There must be some problems between them due to some family issues.”
The DGP added, “We are unaware of her or her husband’s business dealings. This has come as a huge shock and disappointment. Anyway, the law will do its job, there is no black mark in my career. I don’t want to say anything more.”
Ramachandra Rao’s controversial career
Despite his claims, the top cop is no stranger to controversy. Ramachandra Rao faced heat in a significant hawala case in 2014 while he was the Inspector General of Police (IGP) for the Southern Range, Mysuru. A bus transporting hawala money was stopped by police at the time, and they confiscated ₹20 lakh. A businessman from Kerala, however, later claimed that the cops were embezzling the cash.
The businessman filed a case later charging that a bus bound for Kerala had been looted of Rs 2.07 crore, in Mysuru’s Yelwal neighborhood. After taking over the case, the Crime Investigation Department (CID) conducted probe that resulted in the arrest of Ramachandra Rao’s personal gunman as well as police informants. Rao was consequently sent to headquarters and relieved of his position as IGP of the Southern Range.
Several lower-level police officers were accused of being hand-in-glove with Rao in the robbery case that occurred over a decade ago. The senior police officer was transferred from his posting but no official or legal action was initiated against Rao.
Ramachandra Rao again landed in trouble two years later. He, and another senior IPS officer, were questioned by the CID about the deaths of gangsters Dharmaraj and Gangadhar Chadachana in relation to a purportedly fabricated encounter. The former insisted he didn’t know anything about the matter.
