'Learnt how to conceal gold from YouTube': Ranya Rao tells investigators

Even as the authorities are yet to zero in on the mastermind and the larger smuggling racket involving actor Ranya Rao, investigations into the case have revealed that she had prepared a meticulous plan to smuggle gold bars from Dubai and learnt how to conceal it in her clothing from YouTube videos.

Ranya, the stepdaughter of a senior IPS officer, was arrested at the Bengaluru airport on March 3 with 14 kg gold concealed in her clothing, with authorities suspecting a huge syndicate behind the smuggling racket.

The actor, who had made her debut with the 2014 Kannada movie 'Maanikya', has also claimed that it was her first time smuggling gold.

Also read: Karnataka: Congress, BJP spar over Ranya Rao gold-smuggling case

Modus operandi

A document detailing the authorities’ objections to her bail request disclosed how she was handed over the consignment that has landed her in trouble back home.

Ranya said during her interrogation that she had received an internet call and was asked to collect the gold from Gate A of Terminal 3 at Dubai International Airport.

Subsequently, she met a man in a white gown at the airport dining lounge and collected two packets from him, which contained the gold wrapped in a “thick tarpaulin plastic type” material. The actor said the “unknown person” was six feet tall and had a wheatish complexion and a rough American accent. During the brief meeting, he took her to a corner and handed over the gold, she told the officers.

Interestingly, she done planned well in advance as to how she will smuggle gold. She had bought an adhesive tape from a stationary shop half a mile from the airport. Knowing she wouldn’t get scissors at the airport, she had cut pieces of the tape and kept them in her bag.

YouTube videos

After receiving the gold in the dining lounge, she went straight to the nearby washroom to conceal the gold. She opened the packets and found 12 gold bars and some cut pieces inside.

For ideas, she opened YouTube and went through tutorials on how to conceal gold in one's body. She then wrapped the gold bars around her calf muscle and waist using the tape and put the smaller pieces in her shoes and pockets, the document read.

“The gold was in two plastic-covered packets. I attached the gold bars to my body in the airport restroom. I hid the gold in my jeans and shoes. I learnt how to do this from YouTube videos,” Rao told the revenue intelligence officers.

Also read: Ranya Rao case: Probe ordered against stepfather DGP Ramachandra Rao

She reached Bengaluru on an Emirates flight on March 3 and had got through the airport security with the help of an officer who was involved in the racket, the DRI told the court on Wednesday.

Ranya was intercepted just a few steps away from the airport exit by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials after her frequent foreign travels raised suspicion. She was arrested after the gold bars were found in her possession.

The actor had made 27 trips to Dubai in the last six months and four of those were within a span of just 15 days.