New Delhi, March 13 -- The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has informed a Karnataka court that actor Ranya Rao, arrested in a gold smuggling case, was part of a smuggling syndicate and had illegally brought gold into the country on multiple occasions.

Gold bars worth Rs.12.56 crore were seized from Harshvardhini Ranya, alias Ranya Rao, at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru. A subsequent search of her home in Bengaluru's Lavelle Road yielded gold jewellery worth Rs.2.06 crore and Indian currency amounting to Rs.2.67 crore.

Kannada actor, Rao had come under the lens of the DRI due to her frequent foreign trips. Within the last six months, she had made 27 trips to Dubai, and also the United States.

Rao had travelled f...