Bengaluru, March 20 -- A special Bengaluru court on Wednesday rejected the bail application filed by Telugu actor Tarun Konduru Raju who was arrested on March 10 in connection with the gold smuggling case against his friend and co-accused, Kannada actor Ranya Rao.

Judge Vishwanath C Gowdar, who dismissed Raju's bail plea, noted that Raju had allegedly helped Rao smuggle large quantities of gold from Dubai to India in breach of the Customs Act. Though no gold was recovered from him at the time of his arrests, the court noted, he made several day long trips to Dubai with Rao, suggesting that the trips were made for the purpose of smuggling gold.

"Accused number two (Raju), is a US citizen and holds an OCI card that enabled him to travel t...