Ranya Rao Gold Smuggling Case: Kannada Actress Granted Bail By Bengaluru Court, Likely To Remain In Jail

Ranya Rao, who has been in custody for over 2 months for smuggling 14.8 kg of gold in India, has been granted bail. Co-accused Tarun Kondaraju has also been granted bail. They have been granted bail on two sureties each and a ₹2 lakh bond. The Kannada actress was coming from Dubai and was arrested at Bengaluru airport by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) while trying to leave the premises with illegal gold. The court has imposed strict conditions that they cannot leave the country and must not commit a similar crime.

However, Ranya's lawyer, B.S. Girish, argued that she will not be released even if she gets bail. This is because a case has been registered against her under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974 (COFEPOSA). It is currently challenged by her mother in the High Court, and the next hearing of the same is on June 3.

Who is Ranya Rao?

Ranya Rao was born in 1980 in Chikmagalur, Karnataka, and pursued engineering at Dayananda Sagar College of Engineering in Bengaluru before entering the film industry. While details about her personal life are scarce, some reports claim she married Jatin Hukkeri, an architect specialising in designing pubs and microbreweries, four months ago. She is said to be the step-daughter of DGP Ramachandra Rao, who was placed on compulsory leave soon after the news of Ranya's arrest broke.