A sweeping crackdown by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence on international smuggling syndicates has hit a strict legal deadline. Kannada actress Ranya Rao was released from a Bengaluru prison on April 22, 2026. Her mandatory one-year preventive detention under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities (COFEPOSA) Act officially expired.
Authorities had intercepted Rao at Kempegowda International Airport on March 3, 2025. Officers recovered 14.2 kg of gold bars from her possession. The case drew immense scrutiny across Karnataka’s entertainment sector due to her familial ties, as she is the stepdaughter of suspended senior Karnataka IPS officer Ramachandra Rao.
Investigators from the DRI and the Enforcement Directorate eventually alleged her involvement in a massive organized syndicate. The operation allegedly smuggled 127 kg of gold between 2024 and 2025, and her associates are also concluding their detention periods. The total value of the contraband exceeded ₹102 crore.
Rao had previously secured regular bail for the initial criminal charges. She remained incarcerated strictly due to the preventive COFEPOSA order. The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence slapped a ₹102.5 crore penalty on Rao following the Supreme Court’s refusal to grant early release prior to the April 22 expiration. Justices MM Sundresh and N Kotiswar Singh dismissed the final plea from her family, validating the DRI’s initial subjective satisfaction for the detention.
With the physical detention order maxed out, the legal strategy now shifts. Authorities laid out the charges in a 350-page prosecution complaint filed under the Customs Act 1962.
What Statutory Limits Mean for the DRI Prosecution
The release of Ranya Rao and co-accused figures like Ballari-based gold trader Sahil Sakaria Jain highlights the rigid mechanics of India’s preventive detention laws. COFEPOSA restricts authorities from holding suspects without trial beyond exactly one year. The DRI utilized the act to disrupt the syndicate’s immediate physical operations and halt the flow of gold from Dubai.
That administrative buffer period has now collapsed. The DRI and ED must pivot entirely from preventive holding measures to formal courtroom prosecution based on the 350-page complaint. The massive ₹102.5 crore financial penalty remains active, signaling that federal investigators are attempting to bankrupt the syndicate’s infrastructure even as its alleged operatives walk out of prison cells.