Bengaluru: The Congress, which is in power in Karnataka, was in a bit of a spot after the arrest of actor Ranya Rao in a gold smuggling case, what with her stepfather being the director general of police of the state. Now, the Congress seems to have turned the tables against the BJP, with allegations being raised that the party allotted industrial land out of turn, to a company co-owned by Ranya, when it was in power in the state.
The company in question is named Ksiroda India. It was formed in April 2022, by changing the name of another company known as Bioenzo India Pvt Ltd. Ranya (also known as Harshavardini Ranya) is lead promoter of Ksiroda India, with 99,000 shares against her name. Her brother Kabinahalli Rushab owns the remaining 1,000 shares of the company, with a share capital of Rs 10 lakh.
It has now come to light that, in February 2023, the then BJP government in the state, allotted 12 acres of land to Ksiroda India in the Sira Industrial Area of Tumakuru to set up a plant to produce steel products, such TMT Bars. This land was allegedly allotted out of turn.
“This allocation was cleared during the 137th State Level Single Window Clearance Committee meeting, chaired by then industries minister Murugesh Nirani, on January 24, 2023. The Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board was directed to allot the 12 acres accordingly. This clearly indicates that the actor had links with the top BJP leadership in the state, since long,” a Congress leader in the state said.
The BJP has not denied that the land was allotted. However, it was not allotted out of turn, a leader claimed.
“Everything was done through proper channels. The company proposed to invest Rs 138 crore for the project that would employ 160 people. Only after going through this proposal was the land allotted. There was no nepotism involved, whatever the Congress may say,” he said.
Ranya, who was arrested on March 3 from the Bengaluru airport, with unaccounted for gold, has now been remanded to judicial custody for 14 days. The CBI has also started a probe in the matter after the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) claimed that the actor is part of a gold smuggling syndicate.
