The Karnataka government has withdrawn the police involvement in the probe into the Ranya Rao gold smuggling case. The state police’s Criminal Investigation Department or CID was initially tasked with investigating protocol violations at the Bengaluru International Airport. The Home Ministry has now revoked the probe order.
The government move comes two days after the Central Bureau of Investigation took over the 14-kg gold smuggling case that has been making headlines for more than a week.
Arrested on March 3 at the Bengaluru international airport with 14 kgs of gold tucked into her clothes and under bandages, she has been sent to jail custody for 14 days after questioning by the state police.
The 33-year-old has claimed that she was “verbally tortured” and not allowed to rest while in police custody for the first 24 hours.
Her lawyer claimed that there were multiple protocol violations during her arrest, including the one where she was supposed to have been informed about her rights.
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence or DRI, which is also investigating the smuggling case, said today that huge money was arranged and transferred through hawala and they are investigating that channel.
“It shows that a syndicate was operating,” the DRI said and also claimed that the smuggling was going on with the help of the state Protocol Officer
Ranya Rao, they said, had passed through the immigration and the Green Channel with the help of the State Protocol Officer.
“We (the DRI) had intercepted there once she passed the Green Channel, She had no intention to declare what she was carrying,” the DRI counsel added.
Ranya Rao had come under the lens of the DRI due to her frequent foreign trips. Within the last six months, she had made 27 trips to Dubai, and also the United States.
Following her arrest, a search of her home in Bengaluru’s Lavelle Road yielded gold jewellery worth Rs. 2.06 crore and Indian currency amounting to Rs. 2.67 crore,” the DRI said.