Amid ongoing Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids targeting Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara in connection with a gold smuggling case involving actor Ranya Rao, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Thursday added a new layer to the controversy by stating that Parameshwara had told him he merely gave a "wedding gift" to the actor and insisted there was "nothing wrong in it."
Shivakumar, who met the Home Minister at his residence earlier in the day, addressed the media following their conversation. He clarified that Parameshwara had gifted something to Ranya Rao during her wedding, as is common among people in public life. "I just spoke to Parameshwara. There was a marriage. We are in public life, we run institutions. As a gesture to people we know, we give lots of gifts—Re 1, Rs 10, Rs 10 lakh, Rs 5 lakh. I think he might have also given a gift. It was a marriage, nothing wrong in it," he said.
Shivakumar also distanced the political establishment from the alleged illegal activities of the actor. “Whatever activities done by that lady is a personal issue. The law will take its own course. As far as Parameshwara is concerned, we meet thousands of people, we don’t know who does what. We don’t want to interfere with the law or the ED. I just discussed with him and asked what the reality is. He said that at the time of marriage, he gave a gift. That’s quite natural," he added.
When asked for his reaction to Shivakumar’s statements, G Parameshwara, with a smile, replied, “You ask DK Shivakumar.” On whether he would cooperate with the ED’s investigation, he responded, “Of course.”
The ED has launched raids on several educational institutions linked to Parameshwara as part of its probe into an alleged hawala and gold smuggling network connected to Ranya Rao. The central agency is conducting the investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). According to ED sources, hawala operators are suspected to have routed 'fake' transactions through accounts associated with the institutions linked to the Home Minister.
Also Read: Ranya Rao case: ED raids medical college linked to Home Minister
Parameshwara confirmed that the ED had visited three institutions and one university seeking financial records from the past five years. He said he had instructed his staff to extend full cooperation to the investigators. “As a person who believes in the law of the land, I am prepared to cooperate with whatever comes out of their verifications or searches,” he stated.
When questioned about allegations that Rs 40 lakh from an institutional account under his purview was used to pay off Ranya Rao’s credit card bill, Parameshwara said he would comment only after the investigation is complete.
Ranya Rao was arrested on March 3 at the Bengaluru airport after returning from Dubai. Officials from the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized gold bars weighing 12 kilograms and valued at over ₹12 crore from her possession. Although a special court recently granted her bail, along with a co-accused, due to the DRI’s failure to file a chargesheet in time, she remains in custody under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act (COFEPOSA), which allows preventive detention for up to one year without bail.
The ED has claimed a significant breakthrough in the case, stating that an education trust linked to Parameshwara diverted Rs 40 lakh to pay Ranya Rao’s credit card bill, allegedly under the instructions of an influential individual. "No supporting vouchers or documentation were found to substantiate this payment," the agency said in its findings.
Also Read: Ranya Rao gets bail in gold smuggling case
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