DGP Faces Renewed Scrutiny Amid Gold Smuggling Probe

In a 9-Page Letter to CBI, Activist Snehamayi Krishna Sought Reopening of 2014 Ilawala Robbery Case Wherein Then IGP Rao Was One of the Accused

- Arun Dev

BENGALURU: Karnataka director general of police (DGP) K Ramachandra Rao, step-father of Kannada actor Ranya Rao who was recently arrested on charges of gold smuggling, continues to face scrutiny following fresh developments in a long-standing robbery case linked to the Ilawala police station.

Ramachandra Rao — who has been serving as director general of police (DGP) since October 2023 and is chairman and managing director of the Karnataka State Police Housing and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited — has faced scrutiny in the past. His tenure as IGP of the southern range was marred after his name surfaced in a case involving a large cash seizure.

The 2014 Ilawala robbery case, which involved the theft of ₹2.27 crore and two kilograms of gold, resurfaced after complainant and activist Snehamayi Krishna on Saturday submitted a nine-page letter to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) urging them to reopen the case.

In the letter, Krishna called for an inquiry into both the original perpetrators of the gold smuggling and the police officers "who were involved in closing the case without fully investigating its origins".