BENGALURU: Sandalwood actress Harshvardini Ranya alias Ranya Rao (33) may have escaped scrutiny of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Bengaluru, after she renewed her passport in January this year but for her almost back-to-back, and very-short-duration overseas visits in the fortnight preceding her arrest on March 3.
Her last four visits reportedly lasted between 24 and 48 hours, said sources on condition of anonymity.
“In fact, she had left for Dubai on March 3 by Emirates early morning flight and returned to Bengaluru the same evening. She walked through the green channel without declaring the gold to the Customs officials and was intercepted by DRI at the exit of the green channel,” added sources.
Ranya was arrested on the night of March 3 at the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) by the DRI under the Customs Act, 1962 for smuggling 14.2 kg of gold worth Rs 12.56 crore. There were 14 gold bars, each weighing 1 kg, strapped on her thighs with tape and bandages.
The next day, on March 4, the DRI recovered gold jewellery worth Rs 2.06 crore and Rs 2.67 crore in cash from her house - No 62, Nandwani Mansion in upscale Lavelle Road - during the raids. The total seizure in the case amounted to Rs 17.29 crore, including assets worth Rs 4.73 crore.
Though Ranya, at present lodged in judicial custody in the Bangalore Central Prison, in a handwritten letter to the Additional Director General (ADG), DRI, Bengaluru has claimed innocence and that she is being fabricated in a false gold smuggling case, the DRI in their arrest memo of Ranya had claimed that the agency had recovered two Dubai Customs declarations dated November 13, 2024, and December 20, 2024, from her residence on Lavelle Road.
“The documents showed that the Ranya had declared that they intended to travel to Geneva with the said gold, but diverted and came to India,” read the arrest memo.
A frequent flier, Ranya has visited Dubai and some other countries 25 times in the last year and four times in the fortnight preceding her arrest.
“She holds a resident identity of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and reportedly owns a company ‘Vira Diamonds’ in Dubai, because of which she may have got the resident ID. She seems to have used her business identity for her frequent travels overseas,” sources claimed.
The second accused in the case, hotelier Tarun Raju, who is said to be a business associate of Ranya, was arrested on March 9 for allegedly assisting her in gold smuggling. He has been remanded in judicial custody till March 24.
Did Ranya pay through hawala? Probe on
Modes of payment for the contraband gold is at the core of investigation by the DRI and Directorate of Enforcement (ED) in the Ranya Rao gold smuggling case. The suspicion is that money for the smuggled gold has been paid through hawala -- an informal and illegal cash transfer. Hawala transactions in India are illegal under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).
“Earlier, a cut note was used to establish the identity of the recipient, the other portion of the note used to be with the hawaladar (carrier). Now it’s a proper Rs 10 note, a picture of which is previously shared with the sender and the hawaladar on WhatsApp. Once the beneficiary receives the money, the note is destroyed,” said sources. Investigating hawala transactions is an extremely challenging job as there are no books of records maintained. It’s a close network based on trust.