The trophy whose picture she sent to her family before she approached the police at Sharjah airport. Chrisann Pereira was told to carry the trophy with her as she would have to use it in the audition; (right) Chrisann Pereira

Actress Chrisann Pereira, who appeared in the films Sadak 2 and Batla House, has been arrested in the UAE for alleged drug smuggling. She is currently being held at Sharjah Central Jail. According to her family, she was deceived on the pretext of being offered a role in an international web-series. “We have been seeking help from the authorities, but they are not listening. The city police have not even registered our complaint or listened to our concerns,” said Kevin Pereira, the actress’s brother.

According to the family, the scam began when Chrisann’s mother Premila Pereira received a message from someone who identified himself as Ravi, who claimed that he had met her for real estate work and offered to introduce Chrisann, 27, to his ‘Talent Pool’ team. He asked if Chrisann was available to meet for an interview for an upcoming international web-series at the Grand Hyatt Mumbai Hotel & Residences at Santacruz East at 1.30 pm on March 25.

“He said the audition would take a day and that he would make all arrangements for her stay and travel. Chrisann went for the audition. She was then informed she had to fly to Dubai on April 1. Since her passport was expiring on April 10, he hurried the process and booked a flight (Air Arabia G9 G9402) to Sharjah instead of Dubai and also claimed that he had booked her return ticket for April 3,” Kevin, Chrisann’s brother, stated.

As per the family, before taking the flight to Sharjah, ‘Ravi’ called her to the Westin Mumbai Garden City at Goregaon and then changed the venue to a coffee shop that is 10 minutes away from the Mumbai International Airport (T2). At the meeting, ‘Ravi’ handed over a trophy to her, claiming that it was part of the audition script and would be required for the audition. Accordingly, she carried the trophy with her and travelled from T2 to Sharjah.

“On landing, she turned on her mobile phone to inform us that she had landed safely on the family WhatsApp group. She immediately started to check the WhatsApp messages that were sent earlier by Ravi. To her surprise, all the chats had disappeared via the disappearing messages feature. Thereafter, she called the hotel to confirm the booking and the pick-up. The hotel informed her that there was no such booking in her name,” Kevin said.

“Then she felt that she was being framed by Ravi, who had handed over the trophy to her. Immediately, she called me and my father, Mark Pereira, in Mumbai and informed us about the situation and the trophy. I told her to inform the airport police immediately, although she booked the next flight to India, which was at 9.30 am local time,” Kevin added.

The family said that when she went to meet the cops, her phone battery was at three per cent. As she was talking to the authorities, informing them about the scam, she cut the call, saying that the phone was about to die. “Thereafter, we have not heard from her. We approached the Mumbai police station in our jurisdiction and lodged a complaint that she is not contactable and was supposed to return on April 3,” Kevin told mid-day.

Later, the family was informed via email by the Consulate General of India (CGI) that she had been arrested and put in Sharjah Central Jail, and on April 10, the family was informed by the Consulate that Chrisann had been charged with drugs found in the trophy handed over to her by Ravi.

“We went to various police stations, and everyone is saying that it is not in their jurisdiction and not even taking our complaint to interrogate Ravi,” Kevin said. The anxious family has hired a personal lawyer in Dubai to deal with the case and also seeking help from the ministry of external affairs (MEA). However, they say they have not received any help from the Indian authorities.

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How far would someone go to exact revenge? The Mumbai police have found a man who tried to con three people into carrying a trophy with drugs in it, and two people with drugs laden cakes, to Dubai, to settle scores. Sadly, two of the people were trapped in this evil scheme while three escaped. The Mumbai police’s investigations into the recent arrest of an actress caught at Sharjah airport for smuggling drugs in a trophy have led them to the man and his associate who have been arrested.

The Mumbai Crime Branch arrested two individuals in connection with actress Chrisann Pereira’s, 27 case. Pereira was allegedly deceived by the accused who promised her a role in an international web series and sent her to Dubai ‘for an audition' after multiple meetings in Mumbai. They gave her a trophy which they said had to be used in the audition. The authorities later discovered it contained drugs. As a result, she was arrested by the Sharjah Airport police and has been in Sharjah Central Jail since April 1.

During the investigation, authorities discovered that four other individuals had fallen victim to the accused's deception, which was apparently motivated by a desire for revenge. Three of the victims returned from Dubai, while two, including Pereira, were arrested by the authorities in Sharjah. The accused used similar tactics to lure the five victims.

The two accused have been identified as Anthony Paul, 35, from IC Colony Borivli, and Rajesh Bubhate, 35, also known as Ravi. Paul owns a bakery at Malad and Ravi is an assistant manager in a reputed bank.

Paul is the mastermind and had a personal grudge against Pereira's mother, Premila. The police said Premila had a disagreement with Paul’s sister, a neighbour, during the COVID-19 pandemic over non-compliance with guidelines and pet-related issues in their society. As a dog lover, Pereira's mother's stance was not well-received by Paul’s sister, and he also got into a fight with Pereira during a visit to the society.

During the investigation, it was discovered that Paul sought revenge against Premila by using Ravi to deceive her daughter, by sending her to Dubai as a drugs mule. When Pereira arrived at the Sharjah airport, she realized that no hotel booking had been made in her name. She informed her family about the trophy she had been given at the Mumbai airport by Ravi. She also sent them a picture of it. Pereira’s brother, Kevin, advised her to inform the Sharjah authorities that she had been scammed, but instead, they arrested her for smuggling drugs into the UAE.

According to the Mumbai Crime Branch, Paul had previously used the same tactic on: Ken Rodricks, Clayton Rodricks, Munisha and Rishikesh Pandya. All were promised roles or work with international web series, and traveled to Dubai, only to discover upon landing at Sharjah airport that no hotel booking had been made in their names. Rodricks was also given a trophy containing drugs at the Mumbai airport, but he dumped it at the Sharjah airport and returned home. Pandya had refused to carry the trophy given to him, which was later given to Pereira.

Clayton, a DJ, was given a cake a laced with drugs and arrested by Sharjah airport authorities. Munisha, a dress designer, also received a drugs laced cake but realized she had been scammed and dumped it at Sharjah before returning home. Clayton and Pereira were both arrested after informing the authorities about the scam.

“As of now, we do not see a syndicate. The accused did this to seek revenge against all the victims because he had problems with each of them,” an officer of the Mumbai Crime Branch stated.

Lakhmi Gautam, joint commissioner of police (Crime), stated that a case had been registered under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, and the matter is under investigation.

The crime branch has booked the accused for cheating, forgery as well as under section 23 (Punishment for illegal import in to India, export from India or transhipment of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances)  24 (punishment for external dealings in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances in contravention of section 12) of NDPS act. The officials are  coordinating with their counterparts through legal channels to get Pereira and Clayton back to India.

Chrisann and her brother Kevin Pereira