UAE releases actress Chrisann Pereira nabbed in 'planted' drug case

Mumbai actress Chrisann Pereira, who was jailed in Sharjah (UAE) in a 'drugs plant' case, has been released, her family announced via social media late on Wednesday.

Her family posted a video showing them dancing, crying with disbelief, with a relieved but weeping Chrisann on the other side, all urging her to come back as early as possible.

Chrisann, 27, was trapped last month in the 'drugs plant' case by a couple of Mumbai men, who have been arrested and have confessed to their crime.

The accused duo had hidden the drugs in an award trophy which was detected in Sharjah following which the local police had arrested Chrisann. She had been in jail since April 1.

Her distraught family in Mumbai had told IANS on Tuesday that Chrisann is innocent and they have planned to appeal to the PM and MEA for help to secure her early release.

The Mumbai Police Crime Branch, which is probing the case, has nabbed the prime accused Anthony Paul (35), a baker in Borivali, and his associate Rajesh Bubhate (34) alias Ravi, a banker.

They have confessed to handing three persons the award trophies with drugs concealed in them and two others with drugs-laced cakes before they flew to Dubai, ostensibly as vendetta against the Pereira family.

While two, including Chrisann, unwittingly walked into the trap, three others managed to evade the authorities in Sharjah.

Paul, said to be the brain behind the revenge con, apparently nursed an old grudge against the Pereira family, especially Premila (Chrisann's mother), and even got into fisticuffs with her son Kevin.

The police have found that Paul had used the same modus operandi with some other wannabe actors, assuring them of plum roles in global webseries, though one person declined to carry the trophy, which Chrisann later agreed to take with her.

An upcoming actress, Chrisann has featured in films like "Sadak 2", "Batla House", a webseries "Thinkistan", several stage plays. She lives in Borivali suburbs with her family.