India, March 19 -- A special Bengaluru court on Wednesday rejected a 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 was alleged to have helped Rao smuggle large quantities of gold from Dubai to India in breach of the Customs Act. On March 14, the judge had also rejected Rao's bail plea.

"Accused number 2 (Raju), is a US citizen and holds an OCI card that enabled him to travel to Geneva and Bangkok without a visa. He misused such privilege by wrongly declaring that the gold being carried by A1 (Accused No. 1, Ranya Rao) was...