Court rejects Telugu actor Raju’s bail plea in gold smuggling case

A special Bengaluru court on Wednesday rejected the bail application filed by Telugu actor Tarun Konduru Raju who was arrested on March 10 in connection with the gold smuggling case against his friend and co-accused, Kannada actor Ranya Rao. On March 14, judge refused bail to Ranya Rao after noting that the investigation in the case was ongoing and the allegations against her were serious in nature Judge Vishwanath C Gowdar, who dismissed Raju’s bail plea, noted that Raju had allegedly helped Rao smuggle large quantities of gold from Dubai to India in breach of the Customs Act. The court, while rejecting Raju’s bail plea said that he had knowingly “assisted and aided” Rao in the smuggling of gold from Dubai into India. “The allegations against the accused No.1 is serious in nature as to having attempted to smuggle the gold into India weighing 14213.05 grams in the form of bars by way of concealment by taping the gold bars to her body parts, such as legs-tied to calf muscle, waist area with the help of tape i.e., medical adhesive bandage and also in her front jeans trouser pockets as well as inside the sole of her shoes, with the assistance of State Police Protocol Officer, so as to bypass the Immigration and Customs formalities,” the court had said at the time.