Kanada Actress Ranya Rao jailed for gold smuggling under COFEPOSA

Kannada film actress Ranya Rao has been sentenced to one year of imprisonment under the stringent COFEPOSA, in connection with a gold smuggling case. The Advisory Board handling the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act (COFEPOSA) matter recently ruled that Rao will not be granted bail during the entire term of her detention.

Rao was earlier granted default bail on May 20 by a city court, along with



her co-accused Tarun Raju, after the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) failed to file a chargesheet within the legally mandated timeframe.

Despite the bail being granted on a Rs 2 lakh bond and surety conditions, both Ranya and Tarun continued to remain in custody due to the preventive detention order under COFEPOSA, which permits detention for up to one year even without formal charges, based on suspicion of smuggling activities.