Ranya Rao gold smuggling case: Hotelier's grandson arrested

India Today

A top hotelier's grandson, Tarun Raju, has been arrested in connection with the Bengaluru gold smuggling case. Rania Rao, already in custody, is linked to Raju.

Transcript

00:00In the gold smuggling racket that's been busted in Bengaluru, even as Rania Rao is in custody,

00:06another accomplice has been arrested yesterday by officials.

00:12A top hotelier's grandson, identified as Tarun Raju, has been arrested.

00:17He is, in fact, linked to the Atria Hotel management.

00:21He's the grandson of the owner of Atria Hotel.

00:26Rania's call to Tarun Raju has led to his arrest.

00:29Reportedly, they were close friends.

00:31The allegation, the charge right now is that he was also involved in the gold smuggling racket.

00:36There is going to be a joint grilling of Rania and Tarun now.

00:40He was also reportedly accompanying Rania on several of these Dubai trips

00:45and she had made calls to him.

00:47And it's with that digital evidence that his role is suspected.

00:50He was called in for questioning yesterday, after which he was formally arrested as well.

00:54Tarun Raju, now also identified as being a part of the smuggling racket,

00:59is in five-day custody of the DRI.

01:01Sagai Raj is joining us live with more details on this.

01:04Another high-profile name, Sagai, coming to the fore in the smuggling racket.

01:08We understand that the second accused right now, Tarun Raju has been arrested,

01:12is linked to one of the biggest hotel chains in Karnataka.

01:20Absolutely, they were thick friends and much before she was married to Jatin,

01:24she knows Tarun Raj very well.

01:25They had a very good relationship.

01:27But after the marriage, the relationship did not go well.

01:30But still, they were in contact when it comes to gold smuggling

01:34from foreign countries to India.

01:36And what we also get to learn is, on the day when she transported

01:40all those gold from Dubai to Bengaluru, she had made a call.

01:45And what we also get to learn through our sources is,

01:47when the DRI officials have seized a laptop and a mobile phone,

01:51that's when they realized that she was continuously in touch with Tarun Raju

01:55when it comes to the gold smuggling racket.

01:58And that is one of the reasons that she was being arrested.

02:01Now, he's been taken into custody.

02:03At one point of time, when the interrogation was happening,

02:06the DRI officials made both of them, both accused,

02:10Tarun Raj as well as Rania Rao to sit together on the table.

02:13And they confronted both of them with the evidences that has been gathered by DRI.

02:19As we speak now, the DRI has taken Tarun Raj into five days of custody

02:23and they will investigate further

02:25of his connection with Rania Rao as well as gold smuggling racket.

02:30All right, Sagar, just stay with me.

02:33We're getting more details also that are coming in.

02:35Let's cut across to that.

02:39Explosive details emerging really in this entire case

02:42because now you've got officials uncovering contacts of Dubai

02:46and Malaysia-based individuals on Rania Rao's mobile phone,

02:50raising suspicions that this isn't just a national smuggling racket,

02:53but an international one.

02:55Investigators are probing the identities, business dealings of these individuals.

02:59Rania has reportedly remained tight-lipped,

03:02spending most of the interrogation in tears.

03:04This is something officials also said in court yesterday,

03:07that she is uncooperative and not answering any of the questions.

03:10Sagar, you know, the interrogation of Rania is crucial

03:14to really identify all the missing pieces in this puzzle

03:18of who is involved in the smuggling racket.

03:19And there is a suspicion that this wasn't just with individuals linked in India,

03:24but this could be much bigger, an international smuggling racket.

03:30Absolutely.

03:30The DRI officials have also found the contact number

03:33of one of the individuals from Dubai and the other individual from Malaysia.

03:37And DRI suspect that she might be a part of this international gold smuggling racket.

03:42And when they had questioned Rania Rao on that particular contact,

03:47that she had made continuous contact with these two other people,

03:54she maintained silence.

03:55She distanced herself and she just broke down whenever they raised questions.

03:59Remember, even yesterday she has mentioned in the court

04:01that she was mentally harassed by the investigating officer.

04:05The SPP, the Special Public Prosecutor,

04:08has categorically mentioned that whenever they produce any kind of specific evidence,

04:12like the contact of a Malaysia smuggler or a gold racket smuggler from Dubai,

04:17they produce a contact saying that you've made a contact with them,

04:20you tried to reach them, you spoke to them, you sent a message.

04:22She tries to break down.

04:23She doesn't even open her mouth.

04:25She doesn't even disclose anything when it comes to these kind of connections with her.

04:30So whenever the confrontation happens, she remains tight-lipped.

04:33She breaks down and avoids all the questioning,

04:36which has been done by DRI officials.

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