Bengaluru, July 17, 2025: Kannada actress Ranya Rao has been sentenced to one year of imprisonment under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act (COFEPOSA) in connection with a large-scale gold smuggling case. The COFEPOSA Advisory Board, acting under Section 8 of the Act, has concluded that there is sufficient evidence to justify her preventive detention, which will see her remain in jail without bail for the specified period.
The development comes after Ranya Rao’s mother, Rohini, filed a Habeas Corpus petition in the Karnataka High Court on June 3, challenging her daughter’s detention. However, the Advisory Board, after thoroughly reviewing the case, including the petition and evidence provided in the COFEPOSA report, found all legal procedures to have been followed. Hearings in the matter will be held quarterly and can continue for up to a year.
Ranya Rao, also known as Harshavardhani Ranya, was initially apprehended on March 3, 2025, at Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport. She was caught with 14.213 kg of 24-carat gold, valued at a staggering ₹12.56 crore, allegedly smuggled from Dubai. Subsequent raids at her residence revealed further illicit assets, including unaccounted cash amounting to ₹2.67 crore and gold jewelry worth ₹2.06 crore.
Investigations have revealed that Rao was a key figure in a sophisticated gold smuggling syndicate, operating with her associates, Tarun Konduru Raju and Sahil Jain. The syndicate was involved in illicitly bringing gold into India from suppliers in locations such as Dubai and Uganda. Payments for these operations were reportedly made through hawala channels, effectively bypassing formal financial systems.
Further details uncovered during the probe indicate that the syndicate used elaborate methods to facilitate the smuggling. They filed false export declarations in Dubai, falsely representing export destinations as Switzerland or the USA. To evade detection, couriers carrying the smuggled gold into India utilized dual sets of travel documents.
While Rao had previously been granted default bail by a Bengaluru court due to procedural lapses by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) in filing a chargesheet on time, the COFEPOSA detention order, issued on April 22, superseded this bail, ensuring her continued custody. Her earlier bail pleas had also been rejected by the Special Court for Economic Offences, Sessions Court, and the Karnataka High Court. Tarun Konduru Raju and Sahil Jain, her co-accused, have also been denied bail and remain under restriction.
Ranya Rao now faces serious charges under Sections 135 and 104 of the Customs Act, with proceedings also underway under Section 108. The DRI had previously informed the Karnataka High Court that the trio allegedly smuggled over 100 kg of gold since early 2024. Shocking investigators, Ranya Rao had reportedly traveled alone to Dubai 34 times between 2023 and 2025, highlighting the extent of her involvement in the illicit trade.
