BENGALURU: Harshavardini Ranya alias Ranya Rao along with her two accomplices, Tarun Koduru Raju and Sahil Sakariya Jain, were placed under detention under the stringent Conversation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act 1974 (COFEPOSA Act, 1974).
The Detention Order was served on them on Wednesday at Bangalore Central Prison at Parappana Agrahara, said sources on condition of anonymity.
“The purpose of the detention is to prevent them from indulging in smuggling activities in future,” added the sources.
COFEPOSA is a stringent measure to prevent smuggling and related activities by individuals (including foreigners) who have demonstrated a propensity to indulge in such prejudicial activities.
The COFEPOSA authority of the Central Government invoked preventive detention on the three accused based on the proposal of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Bengaluru Zonal Unit. “Detention under COFEPOSA is independent, and is in addition to the ongoing judicial custody of the three individuals under the Customs Act 1962,” added the sources.
The DRI had arrested Ranya (33) with 14.2 kg of gold worth over Rs 12 crore at Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) on March 3. Tarun was subsequently arrested on March 9 and Sahil, on March 26, in the gold smuggling case. The three accused are presently under judicial custody.
The central agency told the Karnataka High Court during a bail hearing for Ranya and Tarun earlier this week that the three accused acted as a syndicate and have allegedly smuggled 100 kg of gold since early 2024.