‘Learnt to hide gold from YouTube videos’, says actress arrested in gold smuggling case

BENGALURU: Kannada actress Ranya Rao arrested said that she is smuggling gold for the first time from Dubai. She revealed during interrogation that she learned how to hide gold bars by watching YouTube videos. The actress is presently in the custody of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI).

'Received a call from an unknown number on March 1. Had been receiving such calls for the past two weeks. Directed me to go to Gate A of Terminal 3 of Dubai airport. I was instructed to buy gold from Dubai airport and hand it over in Bengaluru. This is the first time smuggling gold from Dubai to Bengaluru. I have never bought gold from Dubai earlier.

I don't know the caller. He had an American-African accent. He gave me the gold after security checks. He left immediately after that. I have not seen him after that. He was about six feet tall and had a very fair complexion. The gold was in two plastic-wrapped packets. The gold bars were placed on her body in the airport lounge. The gold was hidden in her jeans and shoes. She learned this by watching YouTube videos.

After reaching Bengaluru, she was directed to exit the airport and go to the service road. She was then asked to put the gold in an auto parked near the signal, but the number of the auto was not given,' the actress said during the DRI's interrogation.