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Congress MLA Rizwan Arshad on Tuesday asserted that no one from the state government is involved in any kind of criminal activity.
Speaking to ANI, Arshad said that the smuggling case is being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which comes under the central government. "It is being investigated by CBI, which is not under the control of the state government but the central govt. They have all the freedom to investigate and if there is anything and anybody is involved, let it come out. But we are very clear: nobody from the state government is involved in any kind of small criminal activity, the Congress leader said. ""Why would a minister get involved in something like that...BJP should not stoop down so low, he added. This comes after Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) leaders raised allegations of involvement of Karnataka ministers. Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has ordered a probe into the allegations of 'protocol violations' at the Bengaluru International Airport and the alleged role of senior IPS officer Ramachandra Rao in the gold smuggling case linked to actress Ranya Rao. Karnataka's Additional Chief Secretary, Gaurav Gupta, has been appointed as the investigating officer in this case. The Chief Minister has instructed that the report be submitted within a week. It is alleged that actress Ranya Rao misused her name and the courtesy services offered to her to "evade" checks at airports and conduct "illegal" activities. The official order read, "As it has been reported in the media and newspapers for the past week that the actress Mrs. Ranya Rao was illegally transporting gold bullion from Dubai to Bangalore when she was arrested by the officials of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence. Also, the etiquettes given to the top officials at the airports were given to their father by the Director General of Police of the State IPS Group, the Managing Director of the Karnataka State Police Housing and Infrastructure Development Corporation, Dr. K. Ramachandra Rao, IPS." "It is reported that Mrs. Rao has misused her name and the courtesy services offered to her to evade checks at airports and conduct illegal activities. Therefore, the government considers it necessary to investigate the facts and circumstances leading to the availment of courtesy facilities and the role of Shri Ramachandra Rao, IPS, Director General of Police, State IPS Squad, Managing Director, Karnataka State Police Housing and Infrastructure Corporation, in this case," it said. Investigating officer Gaurav Gupta will investigate the facts and circumstances leading to the availment of the courtesy facilities and the role of IPS Rao in this case. Notably, actress Ranya Rao was arrested on March 3 by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) at Kempegowda International Airport (KIAD) in Bengaluru for allegedly smuggling 14.8 kilograms of gold from Dubai. Ranya, the stepdaughter of DGP K. Ramachandra Rao, was produced before a special court judge on the evening of March 4 for financial offenses. On March 4, Ranya Rao was produced before a special court for financial offenses and was remanded to judicial custody until March 18. Prior to her transfer to custody, she underwent a medical examination at Bowring Hospital in Bengaluru. During her questioning, Rao claimed that her trip to Dubai was for business purposes. However, authorities suspect that her visit was linked to the illegal importation of gold. Then she was remanded to the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) custody until March 10 which was extended till March 24. (ANI)
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