Kannada actor Ranya Rao is the step-daughter of Karnataka DGP-rank IPS officer K Ramachandra Rao
GUWAHATI, March 15: Kannada actor Ranya Rao has claimed that she was slapped, tortured and falsely implicated in the gold smuggling case.
The actor, arrested from Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport on March 3 upon her arrival from Dubai after she was caught smuggling 14 kg gold, stated in a letter addressed to the Additional Director General of DRI that she was arrested inside the aircraft itself and was taken into custody of the DRI without being given a chance to explain.
“I am innocent in this matter. They apprehended me from inside the aircraft and from that time of my apprehension from the aircraft till I was produced before the honourable court, I was hit and slapped on my face for about 10-15 times by the officers whom I can identify,” Ranya wrote.
She further alleged that she was forced to sign black pages by the DRI officers.
“Due to immense pressure … I have signed about 50-60 typed pages only by force by the DRI officers,” she wrote.
“Since I was being held by the DRI officers from the evening of 3.3.2025 around 6:45 pm till I was produced before the court on 4.3.2025 at about 7:50pm I was not even permitted to have proper sleep and food,” she wrote.
“I wish to inform you that I am innocent … and have been falsely implicated,” the actor, who is the step-daughter of Karnataka DGP-rank IPS officer K Ramachandra Rao, wrote in the letter from Parappana Agrahara central prison.
Meanwhile, a special court in Bengaluru on Friday denied bail to the 33-year-old actor citing “frequent travel to Dubai, including 27 visits since January 2025, possession of a UAE Resident Identity Card, and threat to national security”, The Indian Express reported.
“…the accused No.1 possessing Resident Identity Card of UAE and having history of travel to Dubai on 27 occasions since January 2025, is another factor which does not incline the court to extend discretionary relief of granting bail…, ” the report stated.
