Bengaluru:
Kannada actor Ranya Rao – arrested last week at Bengaluru airport for smuggling 14kg of gold into the country, some of it strapped to her waist and the inside of her calves – said Wednesday she had been “denied her right to sleep”. The claim was made as Ms Rao, whose stepfather is a top Karnataka cop, was arguing for bail in a special court dealing with economic offences.
The ‘no sleep’ claim follows Ms Rao saying, on Monday, she had been “verbally tortured and threatened” while in custody. This was after images online showed her with swollen eyes and bruises on her face. “I am traumatised and emotionally broken,” she said, crying in court.
Ms Rao’s counsel also claimed the 31-year-old had not been made aware of her rights when she was arrested, and that there were multiple protocol violations when a team from the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, or DRI, took her into custody as she was leaving the Bengaluru airport.
The statement, for example, she gave was “not voluntary”, her lawyer said, urging the court to therefore rule it inadmissible. It was also argued an ‘arrest declaration’ by the DRI is missing.
And finally, Ms Rao claimed a violation of Section 102 of the Customs Act, which says an arrested suspect must be immediately produced before a magistrate if s/he requests this.
This, it was pointed out, was part of guidelines set out by the Supreme Court.
It was noted “courts have been granting bail in murder cases if accused is a lady”. Her lawyer asked, “Why cannot she be granted bail for this, where the quantum of punishment is less?”
The stepdaughter of Ramachandra Rao – a senior police official serving as Chairman and Managing Director of the Karnataka State Police Housing Corporation – Ms Rao was caught on March 3 after she arrived from Dubai with gold bars worth Rs 14.56 crore.
Officials searched her house and recovered gold worth Rs 2 crore and Rs 2.67 crore in cash.
Ms Rao, who made her movie debut in 2014 with ‘Maanikya’, came on the DRI’s radar after traveling four times to Dubai in 15 days. This was after 27 trips in the past year.
Her stepfather has denied any involvement in the crime, and said he was “shocked and devastated” by the news of his stepdaughter being arrested on smuggling charges.
In a statement on March 5, he said he not maintained contact with Ms Rao since her marriage four months ago, and that he was unaware of her husband Jatin Hukkeri’s business dealings.
