Rs 102 crore penalty imposed on Kannada actress Ranya Rao in gold smuggling case

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence has imposed a fine of Rs 102 crore on Kannada film actress Ranya Rao in a gold smuggling case, DRI sources said on Tuesday.

Along with her, the DRI imposed a penalty of Rs 63 crore on hotelier Tarun Kondaraju and Rs 56 crore each on jewellers Sahil Sakaria Jain and Bharat Kumar Jain.

On Tuesday, the DRI officials reached the Bengaluru Central Jail and served each of them a 250-page notice along with 2,500-page annexure.

"It was a herculean exercise to prepare a detailed notice along with supporting documents. Today, we served 11,000 pages of documents to the accused," a DRI source told PTI.

According to sources in the DRI, the actress was caught with 14.8 kg gold on March 3 at the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru on her arrival from Dubai.

Rao is the step-daughter of Director General of Police-rank officer K Ramachandra Rao.

The actress was sentenced to one year of imprisonment under the stringent Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act in the gold smuggling case in July this year.

The matter came up before the High Court on Tuesday, which posted it for September 11, DRI sources said.