Ranya Rao’s mother has filed a petition in the Karnataka High Court challenging her daughter’s preventive detention under COFEPOSA. Rao was arrested for allegedly smuggling gold worth Rs 12.56 crore.
Ranya Rao, the stepdaughter of Karnataka’s Director General of Police K Ramachandra Rao, was arrested on March 3, 2025, by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) at Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport.
Officials found 14.2 kilograms of gold bars, worth around Rs 12.56 crore, taped to her body using bandages.
Authorities believe she was trying to smuggle the gold into the country and avoid paying customs duties worth Rs 4.83 crore. This is being treated as a serious case of gold smuggling.
Later, on April 22, the Ministry of Finance issued a detention order under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act (COFEPOSA).
This order was made based on a request from the DRI and came through the Ministry’s Central Economic Intelligence Bureau.
If this COFEPOSA order is enforced, it gives the government power to keep Ranya Rao and others involved in jail for up to one year without regular court proceedings.
Even if any court grants them bail in other cases, they can still be detained under this special order.
As per a report in the Hindustan Times, the case came up before a vacation bench of the Karnataka High Court, with Justices H P Sandesh and Ramachandra Huddar hearing the matter.
The Central Government is expected to give its response when the case continues on June 3.
The Karnataka High Court had earlier sent a notice to the DRI regarding Ranya Rao’s bail application. But her bail request was later rejected. Ranya Rao remains in judicial custody.
She is not alone in this case. A well-known Telugu actor, Tarun Konduru Raju, was also arrested in connection with the smuggling attempt.
His bail plea was also denied. The DRI informed the court that
“both actors were in the UAE simultaneously, but while Raju returned to Hyderabad, Rao landed in Bengaluru, where the smuggling was detected.”
After Rao’s arrest, two more people were taken into custody — Tarun Raju and jeweler Sahil Jain — for their alleged roles in this gold smuggling network.
All three of them are still in judicial custody, and their remand has been extended many times. Recently, a Sessions Court in Bengaluru also dismissed Tarun Raju’s bail application filed under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023.
This case has drawn attention not only because of the amount of gold involved but also due to the involvement of high-profile individuals.
The legal process continues, and the court will soon decide the future of the accused based on the DRI’s findings and the Centre’s reply.
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