Bengaluru: The Union govt has invoked the stringent anti-smuggling law — Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities (Cofeposa) Act, 1974 — against actor Ranya Rao, daughter of senior IPS officer Ramchandra Rao, in alleged gold-smuggling case. The Act, invoked by the Union finance ministry, provides for one-year preventive detention.
Rao, currently remanded in judicial custody and lodged in Bengaluru Central Prison, approached Karnataka high court seeking bail. Her bail petitions had been turned down by the special court for economic offences and the sessions court earlier.
P Prasanna Kumar, special public prosecutor for NIA and CBI, confirmed there is no provision for granting bail under Cofeposa. “The Act is brought against persons who are clandestinely involved in smuggling activities which are of serious magnitude and are organised in nature. The preventive detention under Cofeposa is invoked for effective prevention of smuggling activities which would adversely affect the national economy and thereby cause a serious effect on the security of the country,” Kumar said.
He said Ranya will continue to remain in the existing judicial custody of Bengaluru Central Prison until the advisory board considers the case. If the advisory board upholds the order of preventive detention under Cofeposa, the detainee would remain in custody for a maximum period of one year.
“A detainee can be confined up to one year without any trial in the court of law as there is no option for applying bail under Cofeposa. The only remedy available to the detainee is to give representations to the detaining authority, the government and the advisory board. Only they have the power to consider such representation and release him/her. However, the detainee or family members can challenge the order of detention in high court or Supreme Court,” said Aruna Shyam M, Senior advocate and former additional advocate general, Karnataka.
MSID:: 120621854 413 |

Kolkata: In a major shakeup, Bengal govt on Friday shifted out the police superintendents of Murshidabad and Jangipur.
While Jangipur SP Ananda Roy has been shifted to command the Eastern Frontier Rifles unit in West Midnapore’s Salua, Murshidabad SP Surya Kumar Yadav has been moved to Cooch Behar to command the newly formed Narayani Battalion. Roy is a part of the SIT investigating 138 FIRs connected with the Murshidabad violence. A Bhabani Bhawan source said Shaw would replace Roy in the SIT. Yadav was part of the probe team that was conducting raids outside the state.
Amit Kumar Shaw, DCP (Traffic-South, Kolkata) has been asked to take charge of Jangipur. Kumar Sunny Raj, now the SP of Ranaghat, will be the new Murshidabad SP.
Earlier this month, both Shamsherganj and Suti inspectors-in-charge were removed.
The transfers come ahead of CM Mamata Banerjee’s visit to the trouble-hit zones in May. The orders came after both places have remained peaceful over the past several days. SIT has so far nabbed 307 persons.
Aashish Maurya, who was SS (IB), will be the new SP of Ranaghat. Angshuman Saha, CO of the Narayani Battalion, will now be the CO of the Special Striking Force, Barrackpore.
The SIT, meanwhile, raided multiple places on Friday. “While the father-son murder case will be our top priority, we have also identified five more cases — including one in which shops were set on fire — where we wish to submit a charge sheet at the earliest,” an officer said.

Mumbai: Expressing his thanks to the Supreme Court on the strictures it passed against opposition leader Rahul Gandhi for his statements against Swatantrayaveer Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, CM Devendra Fadnavis said on Friday, “I hope Rahul Gandhi, who moves around with a red-bound copy of the Constitution, will follow the Supreme Court’s order and stop making statements against Swatantrayaveer Savarkar.” BJP’s Shahnawaz Hussain said that the way Rahul Gandhi keeps insulting Veer Savarkar, he will not be forgiven if he continues to do it.” TNN