Nearly two years before Ranya Rao was arrested by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) at the Bengaluru airport for smuggling gold, the Kannada actor and her associate were cheated of ₹2 crore by a Ugandan gold agent, officials have revealed.. Kannada actress Ranya Rao was arrested from the Kempagowda International Airport.. In March 2025, Rao was arrested from the Bengaluru airport after she returned from Dubai allegedly with a consignment of 14-kg of gold worth ₹12.56 crore concealed on her body.. In a chargesheet filed last month, DRI officials said Rao and her associates smuggled 127.28 kg of gold valued at ₹102.55 crore into India between March 2024 and March 2025. The gold was later sold in the domestic market through a network of handlers and jewellers.. Also Read: ED files charge sheet against Ranya Rao, 2 others; says 127 kg gold worth ₹102 crore smuggled to India. Officials have now revealed that Rao and her associate, Tarun Konduru Raju, tried sourcing gold from suppliers, based in African nations, including Uganda, before resorting to smuggling the prized metal from Dubai.. A ‘Ugandan agent’ and ₹2 crore fraud. An official aware of the probe told HT that Rao and Raju tried to source gold from suppliers in African nations, including Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.. The duo also opened a company called Vira Diamonds Trading LLC in Dubai in 2023 to facilitate the transfer. Dubai was intended to be the transit and trading hub.. “They were advised that African mines were the primary source of gold for Dubai’s markets so they attempted to directly procure it from Africa,” the official said, citing the chargesheet.. Rao and her associate got in touch with a Uganda-based agent, Ben, and the two sides agreed to an initial 5 kg trial, which was to be followed by a 50 kg contract.. The duo also paid ₹25,000 (around 23.5 lakh) upfront, followed by two separate payments of around $10,000 each ( ₹9.39 lakh). However, the Uganda-based agent didn’t deliver any gold.. On January 1, 2024, Raju travelled to Uganda city Kampala to meet the agent. He was shown the gold and asked for an additional payment of ₹1.7 crore to release the consignment.. “Rao was coordinating from Dubai to arrange cash and hand it over to Ben’s associate in Dubai. Raju eventually discovered that it was a scam, resulting in a loss exceeding ₹2 crore,” the official said.. Also Read: ‘Missing simple Bengaluru life’: Resident regrets moving to Bellandur from Basavanagudi. Enforcement Directorate (ED) also claimed to have recovered the WhatsApp chats that showed the ‘proof’ of payments. However, there wasn’t enough “material evidence to substantiate the alleged scam”, a second official said.. Three strategies to smuggle gold. After getting duped of ₹2 crore, Rao and Raju resorted to a similar venture in Kenya, but that too was aborted due to similar fraud, a third official said.. The two even sought help from Kenyan officials on the fraud, but th 

 A fresh controversy has erupted over remarks made by former Pakistan high commissioner to India, Abdul Basit, in which he suggested that Islamabad could target Indian cities in a hypothetical situation if the United States were to attack Pakistan.. Abdul Basit said that if the United States were to attack Pakistan, Islamabad would target several Indian cities. (PTI Photo/File). His remarks come amid already heightened tensions in the region, months after India launched Operation Sindoor targeting terror infrastructure across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) following the Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir that led to the deaths of 26 civilians.. Row over ex-Pak envoy’s remark. During a discussion on a hypothetical conflict, Basit said that if the United States were to attack Pakistan, Islamabad would target several Indian cities “without a second thought”.. “If America attacks Pakistan, we have to attack India. Our missiles may not reach America, but we will attack Mumbai and New Delhi in India without a second thought. We won’t leave it, we’ll see what happens later,” he said in an interview with a local TV channel.. India is yet to comment on the former Pakistan envoy’s recent statement.. Although he described it as a “worst-case scenario”, the remark sparked a row for its direct reference to possible strikes on major Indian cities.. He added, “We don’t even want that to happen,” and said it was only a hypothetical situation. “India doesn’t want that either,” the news anchor replied to his statement.. The Indian government is yet to make an official statement on these remarks.. Who is Abdul Basit?. Notably, he served as Pakistan’s top diplomat in India from 2014 to 2017, a time when ties between the two countries remained tense.. His role during that period has added to the reaction, given his direct engagement in India-Pakistan relations.. His past role has added weight to the reaction, given his direct engagement with India during his tenure.. The remarks come at a time of continuing strain between the two neighbours, alongside broader geopolitical tensions linked to the ongoing conflict in West Asia involving the United States, backed by Israel and Iran. 

 Shortly after Punjab transport and jails minister Laljit Singh Bhullar resigned from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government following his alleged link to a suicide case, a case was registered against him and his father under the charges of ‘abetment of suicide’.. The FIR has been registered under Sections 109, 351(3) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. (ANI). Bhullar stepped down from his post on Saturday after his name surfaced in the controversy related to the alleged suicide of a district manager of the Punjab State Warehousing Corporation in Amritsar. The district manager, who allegedly consumed a poisonous substance, claimed he had taken the extreme step out of fear of Bhullar.. ALSO READ | Punjab minister resigns after link to suicide case; rejects ‘false, baseless’ allegations. A first information report (FIR) was registered against Bhullar, his father, Sukhdev Singh Bhullar, and another aide in the case, said Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, Commissioner of Police, Amritsar. Charges under Sections 109, 351(3) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita have been imposed.. The case has been registered at the Ranjit Avenue police station under the Amritsar Police Commissionerate. Another official stated that the decision regarding the FIR against Bhullar was taken at midnight.. Bhullar’s resignation as the transport and jails minister makes him the third minister directly linked to criminal or ethical misconduct to be shown the door in the Bhagwant Mann-led government.. The resignation and an FIR against the Punjab minister comes amid allegations of abetment of suicide of a state warehousing corporation official.. Also Read: Laljit Bhullar 10th minister to exit Punjab cabinet in four years. Gagandeep Singh Randhawa, the district manager of the Punjab State Warehousing Corporation in Amritsar, allegedly took his own life after consuming a poisonous substance at around 7 am on Saturday.. A video surfaced on social media on Saturday in which Randhawa was purportedly heard saying that he had consumed some poisonous substance and accused the transport minister of harassment.. However, the Punjab Police took around 17 hours to register FIR following the AAP government faced backlash across the state and top state leaders of Congress, SAD and BJP united to up ante against the government. The FIR was registered at 11.51 pm.. Charanjit Singh Channi, former CM and Congress MP, has demanded a CBI investigation into the suicide. Shiromani Akali Dal General Secretary Bikram Singh Majithia also asked for a fair, independent probe, including a CBI investigation, and provide justice to the victim. 

 Punjab transport and jails minister Laljit Singh Bhullar on Saturday resigned from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government on Saturday, a day after his name surfaced in a controversy linked to the alleged suicide of a state warehousing corporation official in Amritsar.. Patiala, Feb 11 (ANI): Minister of Transport and Prison Department Laljit Singh Bhullar inspects Patiala Central Jail, in Patiala on Wednesday. (ANI Photo) (Harmeet Sodhi). The minister stepped down after chief minister Bhagwant Mann sought his resignation, with Bhullar saying he took the decision to facilitate a fair inquiry into the case.. On Friday, a district manager of the Punjab State Warehousing Corporation allegedly died by suicide after consuming a poisonous substance at his residence in Amritsar. Prior to his death, a video of the official surfaced on social media, in which he claimed he had taken the step out of fear of Bhullar.. ‘Kha layi poison…’. “Kha layi (poison) thuade yaar ne minister Laljit Bhullar de dar ton, hun ni bachda (Your friend has consumed poison due to fear of minister Laljit Bhullar, I won’t survive now),” the official purportedly said in the video. HT could not independently verify authenticity of the video.. ALSO READ | Patti MLA Laljit Singh Bhullar’s political rise and controversies. In the letters written by the official to his senior officers, that were made public by Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Majithia, the deceased official purportedly accused Bhullar of pressuring him to award a warehousing tender to the minister’s aide Sukhdev Singh Bhullar (minister’s father). In the letters, the official alleged that when he refused, he was summoned to the minister’s residence on March 13 in his office in Patti and was assaulted, and coerced into recording a “confession” claiming he had accepted a ₹10-lakh bribe, which he said was intended to be used to blackmail him. No FIR has been registered in the case yet.. Resignation accepted to ensure fair probe. On Saturday, Bhullar resigned from his post as state minister, even as he termed the allegations “baseless and false”. “Our party has always stood for truth. I request my party and the CM to accept my resignation so that my position does not become an obstacle in ensuring a fair inquiry. I want the truth to come out,” he said.. ALSO READ | DM’s suicide: Opposition targets AAP govt, seeks FIR against ex-minister Laljit Singh Bhullar. CM Mann described the incident as “very sad and painful”.. “Whatever I could do, I have done. I immediately sought the minister’s resignation, and we will give charge of his department to another minister,” he said. “To ensure the investigation into the suicide is not compromised, we have accepted the resignation. We stand with the family in this difficult time.”. Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly Partap Singh Bajwa said the case should be handed over to the CBI. “My first demand is that a case of murde 

 The ministry of civil aviation has withdrawn temporary fare caps on domestic airfares that had been in place since December, saying the situation that prompted the controls had stabilised — but warned airlines that excessive pricing would invite re-imposition of controls.. The Federation of Indian Airlines also wrote a letter warning of route withdrawals and delayed fleet and network expansions unless the caps were revoked. (Reuters). The decision comes two days after airline representatives reportedly met government officials to discuss challenges caused due to the West Asia conflict that has sent fuel prices skyrocketing and choked several international flight routes.. The Federation of Indian Airlines, which represents IndiGo, Air India and SpiceJet also wrote a letter warning of route withdrawals and delayed fleet and network expansions unless the caps were revoked. According to Reuters, the FIA told the government that Indian airlines were incurring “huge” revenue losses and facing higher operational costs.. ALSO READ | West Asia conflict: India managing fuel crisis well, says Rajnath Singh. The caps — between ₹7,500 to ₹18,000 on economy routes depending on flight distance — will now stand withdrawn effective March 23, according to a MoCA order. “Airlines shall ensure that fares remain reasonable, transparent and commensurate with market conditions, and that passenger interests are not adversely impacted,” the order said. It added that any instance of excessive or unjustified surge in fares — particularly during periods of peak demand, disruptions or exigencies — “will be viewed seriously.”. ALSO READ | Iran war hits India fuel rates, prices of premium petrol hiked by ₹2. The ministry explicitly reserved the right to reimpose fare controls or take other regulatory measures if required in the public interest.. The caps had been introduced on December 6, following large-scale flight cancellations by IndiGo that caused widespread disruption, with the government citing the need to protect passengers during a period of constrained capacity.