A Bollywood actress has been arrested in the United Arab Emirates earlier this month for allegedly carrying drugs. Chrisann Pereira was arrested on 1 April after she landed in the UAE. She’s currently lodged in a jail in Sharjah. Meanwhile, her fans are praying for her early release as the Mumbai Police launched a crackdown on individuals, who may have been responsible for the actress’ woes.
The Mumbai Police arrested two men, identified as Anthony Paul and Rajesh Bobhate, for allegedly conspiring to frame the actress to avenge an old feud over a pet dog.
Anthony is a bakery owner while Rajesh is an assistant general manager in a bank. The police arrested Anthony on Monday and Rajesh a day later. Both reportedly lived in Mira Road, a Mumbai suburb.
According to reports, the actress’ mother was approached by one Ravi on 23 March with a promise for a role in a web series for her daughter. Chrisann was required to travel to Sharjah to meet an individual to finalise the role for the fake web series. She was told that a room had been booked in a posh hotel in Sharjah, where someone will be waiting to receive her. She was also given a momento by Ravi to carry with her.
However, according to Chrisann’s family, when the actress landed in Sharjah, there was no one to receive her. She called her father in Mumbai only to be told that she had been duped. This reportedly made her suspicious about the momento and she approached the local police. The Sharjah Police checked the momento and found ganja and opium hidden inside it. The actress was immediately arrested since the UAE had stringent laws against drugs.
According to the Mumbai Police, Anthony’s sister lived in the same apartment where Chrisann’s family resided. Anthony was engaged in altercations with the actress’ mother on two occasions. The first fight took place during the Covid pandemic over the issues of wearing a mask and later the two fought over her dog barking.
Anthony allegedly wanted to teach Chrisann’s mother a lesson and hatched a plan to get her arrested in drug case in the UAE.
The Mumbai Police said that Anthony even demanded Rs. 80 lakh from the actress’ family to secure her release.
Meanwhile, her fans have begun praying for her early release. One wrote on Instagram, “Praying for your release! Hope the Indian government can help on time!!!” Another commented, “Pray for her safe release. Hope the real culprit is held. God bless!”
Chrisann has featured in films such as Sadak 2 and Batla House among others.