Karnataka’s Additional Chief Secretary Gaurav Gupta has submitted his inquiry report in the Ranya Rao gold smuggling case. Gaurav Gupta
committee had been formed to look into the alleged misuse of police protocol and the role of Director-General of Police (DGP) K Ramachandra Rao in it.
According to government sources, the report doesn’t find Rao’s involvement in the case in any way.
The State government had sent Rao on mandatory leave after Ranya Rao was allegedly caught while trying to smuggle 14.2 kg of gold at
Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) by the Directorate of Revenue (DRI). She was being escorted by two police personnel when caught on March 3. The Gaurav Gupta committee was formed on March 10 to look into the alleged role of the DGP in the case.
The report, however, indicates that Rao knew about the police protocol assistance being given to Ranya Rao and that she used to use his official car to reach home from the airport. As per sources, the report also says that Rao never objected to this, but no evidence was found to conclude that he knew of the alleged gold smuggling.
Head constable Basavaraj of International Airport Police, who provided protocol services to Ranya Rao on March 3, had claimed that he had been asked by Rao to assist his family members by providing protocol assistance. Basavaraj is said to have repeated his statement before the Gaurav Gupta Committee as well. Rao, however, denied giving any such instructions in his statement to the committee. The committee is said to have noted that there was no concrete evidence to believe that Rao had asked Basavaraj to provide protocol services to Ranya Rao.
Besides, the enquiry report also points out that the police protocol assistance does not exempt dignitaries from security checks at the airport and hence it was not the reason for Ranya Rao not being checked at the airport earlier.
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