Drug possession case: Mumbai actor Chrisann Pereira released in UAE
Mumbai (PTI): Actor Chrisann Pereira, arrested in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on charges of drug possession and lodged at a jail in Sharjah, has been released by law enforcement authorities there, a senior Mumbai Police official said on Thursday.
Two men had allegedly cheated the 27-year-old actor, who is from Mumbai, by planting drugs on her and sending her to Sharjah under the pretext of an 'audition' while promising her a role in a Hollywood web series.
Pereira, who acted in Mahesh Bhatt directed Bollywood movie 'Sadak 2', was apprehended at the Sharjah airport on April 1 after a small quantity of a drug was found concealed in a memento which one of the accused had given to her to hand it over to someone in the UAE.
After her arrest, the accused - Ravi Bobhate and Anthony Paul - allegedly demanded Rs 80 lakh from her mother to rescue her, the official said.
The actor's mother then approached the Mumbai Police who arrested the duo and booked them for cheating.
The Mumbai Police had sent the case-related documents to the authorities concerned who went through the case details following which Chrisann Pereira was released on Wednesday night, he said.
An official communication with the Ministry of External Affairs was underway in this connection, he said.
Pereira is likely to return to Mumbai in a day or two, the official said.
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No 'bacterial infection' found in bodies of 4 Mumbai family members who died after eating watermelon
Mumbai (PTI): The initial report submitted by the microbiology department of a Mumbai-based state-run hospital has said no "bacterial infection" was detected in the bodies of four family members, who died after consuming watermelon recently, officials said on Wednesday.
The Dokadia family, residents of Ghari Mohalla on Ismail Kurte Road, had hosted a get-together of relatives on the night of April 25. At around 1 am (on April 26), hours after the guests had left, Abdullah Dokadia (40), his wife Nasreen (35), and daughters Ayesha (16) and Zaineb (13) ate pieces of a watermelon.
They suffered severe bouts of vomiting and diarrhoea in the early hours of April 26 and were rushed to a local hospital before being referred to the government-run J J Hospital where all four died during treatment.
After the incident, Mumbai police, forensic experts and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials visited the house and had collected samples of every food item that constituted the family's last meal, including 'chicken pulav', watermelon, water, and other foodstuffs, and sent them to the Forensic Science Laboratory for analysis.
After the post-mortem of the deceased, their viscera was preserved for chemical analysis.
As the probe is underway, the microbiology department of the state-run J J Hospital has submitted its initial report to the police.
"As per the report, no bacterial infection has been detected so far in the bodies of the victims. No bacteria was found in their blood," the official said.
The exact cause of the death will be known once the forensic science lab submits its report, he said.
"The report will also clarify whether any food items consumed by the family members during the day contained anything poisonous," the official said.
