Kannada actor Ranya Rao, who as arrested at Kempegowda airport in Bengaluru with 14.2 kg of gold worth ₹12.56 crore strapped to her body, has alleged in a letter that she was slapped 10-15 times and denied food. Ranya Rao is the stepdaughter of DGP K Ramachandra Rao.
In a letter to Additional Director General of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Ranya Rao also alleged that she was forced to 50-60 typed pages and 40 blank white pages by officers of the agency, an India Today report said.
She did not sign the papers despite repeated assaults, Ranya Rao said.
She said, “From the moment of my apprehension until I was presented in court, I was physically assaulted, slapped 10-15 times by officers whom I can identify. Despite repeated assaults, I refused to sign the statements they prepared.”
“Under immense pressure and physical assault, I was forced to sign 50-60 typed pages and around 40 blank white pages prepared by the DRI officers.”
Earlier, Ranya Rao had claimed that the DRI officials had verbally harassed her during her three-day interrogation before she was sent to judicial custody. Ranya Rao was earlier sent to judicial custody till March 24 in connection with a gold smuggling case.
The Kannada actor was arrested on March 3 by the DRI at the Kempegowda International Airport (KIAD) in Bengaluru for allegedly smuggling 14.8 kilograms of gold from Dubai. Ranya Rao’s arrest followed a tip-off regarding her involvement in smuggling gold into India.
In her statement, Ranya Rao has claimed that she was given a chance to explain and taken into custody by the DRI right from the aircraft when it landed in Bengaluru.
Earlier, an image of Ranya Rao with swollen eyes and claims that she was assaulted in the DRI custody had gone viral on social media. She later clarifed that she was not tortured in the custody. Merely five days later, the Kannada actor has alleged that she was denied food and slapped during interrogation.
