Bengaluru: Was IPS officer K Ramachandra Rao aware that his stepdaughter Ranya Rao is misusing privileges granted to him and his family at the airport? The Karnataka government, on Tuesday, ordered a probe against the IPS officer, who is presently the managing director, Karnataka State Police Housing Board in the rank of a director general of police (DGP).
The government has appointed additional chief secretary Gaurav Gupta as the investigating officer to probe Rao’s role in the whole affair. He will submit his report within a week.
Ranya, an actor and director, was arrested from Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport on March 3 for attempting to smuggle in gold from Dubai. The matter was taken up by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, which later claimed that Ranya was part of a gold smuggling syndicate, and had travelled to Dubai on 27 occasions over the last one year.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has also started an investigation in this matter. Ranya is now in judicial custody. The DRI also arrested Tarun Konduraju, a friend who travelled with her to Dubai, on Tuesday. He has been produced in court for allegedly being involved in the matter. Konduraju belongs to a well-known business family in Bengaluru and is the grandson of a prominent hotelier.
Meanwhile, the state CID has also launched a probe against some policemen who were assigned to provide security to Ranya. It has been alleged that these policemen helped the actor bypass security and customs checks at the airport on several occasions.
