Bengaluru: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) Tuesday said Sandalwood actor and senior IPS officer’s daughter Ranya Rao, had arranged money through a hawala channel to purchase good. Ranya was caught red-handed at Kempegowda International Airport, smuggling in 14.2 kg gold from Dubai on March 3.
Opposing bail to Ranya, public prosecutor Madhu Rao argued the probe was underway and it would not be prudent for her to walk free at this juncture. Ranya’s bail was earlier rejected by the special court for economic offences on March 14 and, following this, another petition was filed before the sessions court, which reserved its order to Thursday.
While seeking bail, Ranya’s counsel had alleged DRI had not followed guidelines, while arresting her. Countering her, public prosecutor said: “The DRI acted in accordance with section 102 of the Customs Act. After the arrest, the accused (Ranya Rao) did not cooperate with the investigating agency. She used the hawala route to arrange money to purchase gold. Accompanied by the second accused in the case (Tarun Konduru Raju), she floated a firm called Veera Diamonds in Bengaluru. We have gathered sufficient evidence against both the accused. We have 60 days to file the chargesheet against the accused persons, and we strongly object to the bail during this period.”
Ranya’s advocate maintained that waiting for filing of chargesheet would be time-consuming as investigating agencies, such as customs have six months to file it and the same can be extended by another six months.