'Flight risk': Why special court rejected actor Tarun Raju’s bail plea in Ranya Rao case

Ranya Rao

The special court of economic offences on Wednesday rejected the bail application of Tarun Raju, arrested by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) in the gold smuggling case involving Kannada actor Ranya Rao.

Judge, Vishwanath Channabasappa Gowdar rejected the bail application filed by Tarun Konduru Raju after considering the objection of DRI that granting him bail would hamper the course of the investigation and posted the next hearing to March 24.

What did the court say?

“The nature of the offence is such that it endangers the economic security of the country and affects genuine traders," the bail order read, which was accessed by News18.

“With evidence pointing to a larger syndicate, releasing Raju at this juncture could allow the destruction of crucial links in the investigation," the judge said considering the international scope of the smuggling case.

The court also took into account Raju's US citizenship, Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) status, and his frequent international travel, viewing him as a flight risk.

“The accused No.2, being a US citizen and holding an OCI card, coupled with his travel history, raises significant concerns about the possibility of him fleeing the court's jurisdiction. This is another valid reason cited by the complainant agency, which led the court to deny the discretionary relief of granting bail,” the order stated.

Raju’s defence

Raju, who was arrested on 9 March 2025 following Ranya Rao’s arrest, applied for bail, asserting that he was falsely implicated based on a delayed voluntary statement by the prime accused. He claimed to have left Vira Diamonds, the company allegedly involved in the smuggling racket, in December 2024—months before the gold was smuggled. His defence argued that this proved his innocence.

His legal team further argued that the gold in question was not a prohibited item under Section 104(4)(a) of the Customs Act. “The allegations against him are unfounded. The gold was dutiable, not contraband, and his name has been included solely due to his previous association with the company,” they contended.

Additionally, his lawyers claimed that his arrest was carried out without proper compliance with Section 35(3) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), citing Supreme Court rulings in Satender Kumar Antil vs. CBI and Arnesh Kumar vs. State of Bihar to argue procedural lapses.

What did the DRI say?

According to the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Tarun Raju and Ranya Rao co-founded a Dubai-based precious metals and diamond trading company, Vira Diamonds, in 2023. Although Raju declared that he had left the company in December 2024, the agency claims he continued to be involved in gold transactions with the Kannada actor.

The DRI's complaint reveals that during his questioning on 8 March 2025, Raju admitted that his recent trip to Dubai on 3 March 2025 was specifically for collecting gold from a contact and handing it over to the prime accused. Flight tickets for this trip were allegedly purchased with funds deposited by the prime accused into Raju’s bank account.

The authorities also claimed that Raju exploited his US citizenship to facilitate the smuggling operation. “As a US citizen, he faced no travel restrictions to Geneva and Bangkok. This loophole was used to declare the gold as being exported to those destinations when, in reality, it was handed over to the prime accused after clearing Dubai Customs,” the complaint stated.