Gold smuggling case: DGP-rank officer sent on compulsory leave
Bengaluru, Mar 15 (PTI): The Karnataka government on Saturday placed DGP-rank officer K Ramachandra Rao on compulsory leave.
K V Sharath Chandra, Additional Director General of Police (Recruitment), will replace him, the GO added.
Rao’s stepdaughter and Kannada actress Ranya Rao aka Harshavardhini Ranya, was arrested on March 3 at Kempegowda International Airport for allegedly smuggling gold from Dubai.
An IPS officer, Rao was serving as the Chairman and Managing Director of the Karnataka State Police Housing and Infrastructure Development Corporation.
The Karnataka government, on March 10, appointed Additional Chief Secretary Gaurav Gupta to probe Rao's possible involvement in Ranya's alleged gold smuggling activities.
Gold bars worth Rs 12.56 crore were seized from Ranya at Kempegowda International Airport on March 3 upon her arrival from Dubai.
Following this, searches were conducted at her residence, where officials recovered gold jewellery worth Rs 2.06 crore and Indian currency amounting to Rs 2.67 crore, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) stated in a press release.
The DRI informed the Special Court for Economic Offences that Ranya had travelled to Dubai 27 times since January.
The investigation thus far uncovered a sophisticated smuggling methodology, including the use of a State Police Protocol Officer to bypass security, hawala transactions to transfer funds from India to Dubai for purchasing gold, and the involvement of a larger syndicate, the DRI told the court.
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NEET student hangs self in Rajasthan's Sikar
Jaipur (PTI): A student preparing for the NEET examination allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a rented room in Rajasthan's Sikar on Friday, police said.
According to the police, the student allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan using his sister's scarf while one sister was attending coaching classes and the other was in the bathroom.
He had appeared in the NEET UG exam 2026, which was cancelled due to paper leak, they said.
Udyog Nagar SHO Rajesh Kumar said that the deceased, identified as Pradeep Meghwal, was a resident of Kanika ki Dhani village in Jhunjhunu's Gudha Gaudji area.
He had been living in a rented room in Sikar's Jaldhari Nagar area with his two sisters while preparing for NEET over the last three years.
His elder sister later found him hanging and informed the landlord and police after bringing him down, officials said.
The SHO said the body was kept at SK Hospital mortuary, and a postmortem had not been conducted.
The student's father, Rajesh Kumar Meghwal, told police that Pradeep's NEET examination had gone well and the family was expecting him to score around 650 marks.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot expressed grief over the incident and linked it to anxiety among students after reports of irregularities and paper leaks in NEET 2026.
Pilot said repeated paper leak incidents and cancellation of examinations were affecting students' mental health and demanded a time-bound investigation and strict action against those responsible.
