Ranya Rao, 34, who was caught smuggling 14.2 kgs of gold at Kempegowda International Airport on March 3, has claimed that she was a mule and it was the first time she had brought gold from Dubai. However, multiple agencies part of the probe seem to be sceptical of this theory. They suspect that she was part of a “coordinated smuggling syndicate, possibly operating out of Dubai” and this was not her first trip.

What statement said

In her statement to the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) after her arrest, part of the remand application submitted to the court, accessed by The Hindu, Ranya has claimed that she got a bunch of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calls from foreign numbers over two weeks preceding her trip to Dubai and a man “of African-American accent” said he would come in a white gown and hand over gold to her at Gate A Terminal 3 of Dubai International Airport, as per which he did. She claimed he was over 6-feet tall and wheatish in colour.

Ranya further claimed that she saw YouTube videos to learn how to hide the gold handed over to her – 12 gold bars and 5 cut pieces, which she hid over her body using a crepe bandage and adhesive tape, around her waist and on her calf muscles, in her front pockets and shoes. She claimed she was instructed to dump gold in an autorickshaw at a traffic signal at the end of the service road outside KIA. She also claimed that this was the first time she had ever got gold from Dubai. 

Customs declarations

However, her arrest memo, accessed by The Hindu, shows that DRI recovered two Dubai customs declarations dated November 13, 2024, and December 20, 2024, in the name of “Harshavardini Ranya” from her residence on Lavelle Road during their search. This showed that she had purchased gold from Dubai in the recent past, declared to Dubai Customs that she intended to travel to Geneva with the said gold, but diverted and came to India. 

Sources also pointed out that Ranya had made at least 27 trips to Dubai in just over a year, including four trips in 15 days, despite not having any business interests or family there. In her statement, she claimed she was a “freelance real estate agent” in Dubai.

Sources said that her statement, while claiming that an unknown person instructed her to become a mule to carry the consignment from Dubai to Bengaluru, remains silent as to why she agreed to abide by it.

Money recovered

Agencies also point to ₹2.67 crore cash and jewellery worth ₹2.06 crore recovered from her residence and say that mules are usually those who take big risks for a small amount, and Ranya, as the step daughter of a senior IPS officer and a film actor with a big cache of cash at home, did not fit into that profile.

DRI has also arrested Tarun Raj, a close friend of Ranya and the grandson of a big hotelier from the city, in the case, indicating that the ring’s activities were perhaps beyond being a mule.

Meanwhile, multiple central agencies who have joined the probe, have till date searched/surveyed at least two jewellery stores and one firm that provides gold loans, indicating the possible involvement of local gold traders.

DRI complaint to CBI hints at “coordinated smuggling syndicate”

Based on the complaint by Abhishek Chandra Gupta, Additional Director, DRI, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered an FIR on March 7, a copy of which The Hindu has accessed.

In his complaint, Mr. Gupta flags two cases – of two foreign nationals, an Omani and another UAE national -caught trying to smuggle 21.28 kgs of gold from Dubai to Mumbai on March 6, days after Ranya was caught at KIA.

“The above two cases detected in quick succession involving passengers making trips from Dubai, the attempted smuggling of large quantities of gold into India and the high frequency of these visits…points to a possible nexus with a coordinated smuggling syndicate, possibly operating from Dubai (UAE),” Mr. Gupta says in his complaint, further flagging the possibility of involvement of Government of India officials. CBI has booked the FIR under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, indicating that the role of Customs and other revenue services was under the lens. 

Ranya asked for escort on March 3

On March 3, when DRI officials intercepted the actor, she was escorted by Basavaraj, head constable of International Airport Police. 

In his statement to DRI, accessed by The Hindu, he said that “as a gesture of courtesy, he has been from time to time instructed to provide protocol assistance to family members of senior officials of the department. Similarly, he was asked by his senior Ramachandra Rao (DGP), to assist his family members and relatives by extending protocol during their arrival and departure. In this manner, by providing protocol assistance, he came to know Ranya in the past few years.”

He further said that on March 3 morning, Ranya called him and said she was arriving at KIA from Dubai at 6.20 p.m. and that she requires protocol assistance for the same. He also told DRI officials that he had provided protocol services to Ranya three to four times earlier during departure and arrival.