As the Bangalore court gears up to pronounce the verdict in the bail plea of Kannada actor Ranya Rao in the gold smuggling case, more details about the actor's confession to the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials have emerged.
As per reports, Ranya has identified the man who gave her the gold at Dubai airport as a "6 ft tall foreigner who wore Arab traditional clothing of Khandura and spoke an African-American" accent. She said she had never met him before.
The actor said the "unknown person" met him near the Espresso machine in the dining lounge at Gate ‘A’ of Dubai International Airport’s Terminal 3. They had an internet call before the meeting, after which he instructed her to come near the Espresso machine. He also told her the delivery location, according to local news websites.
Ranya said she took the gold from him and immediately went to the airport washroom. There were two packages wrapped in thick, tarpaulin-type material, the first one contained 12 gold bars, packed in three sets of four. The second one had five cut pieces of gold.
She then watched YouTube videos to learn how to conceal the gold. She had purchased a tape beforehand and bandaged the gold bars around her thighs and waist. Some were stuffed inside her pocket.
"I had to pass the airport toll gate and take the service road. Then, after crossing the traffic signal there, I had to put it in an auto parked on the side of the road. My task would have ended there," Ranya told the investigation officials.
She added that she had been an avid traveller and had visited Europe, America and Africa many times. She had also been to Dubai multiple times for wildlife photography and real estate business expansion opportunities. "I had planned to settle in Dubai and had no plans to return to Bengaluru. But a call from a stranger changed my plans," she reportedly confessed.
She added that she had been receiving internet calls from an unknown person on March 1 evening. "I had been receiving similar calls for the past two weeks. But I did not inform the police about these unknown calls. This is the first time I have committed the act of transporting gold illegally. I have not purchased any gold during my previous visit to Dubai," she claimed.
Ranya said she booked the Emirates flight from Dubai to Bengaluru at 6 pm on March 1 using her husband Jatin's credit card.