ANTHONY PAUL (37), the Borivali-based baker arrested by the Mumbai crime branch in connection with the Chrisann Pereira case, filed for bail on Friday on grounds that no contraband had been detected in the trophy at two airports when the actress arrived in Sharjah from Mumbai.
As per the chargesheet, Paul had hidden narcotics in a trophy he gave to her in order to get her arrested at Sharjah airport. According to police, he did this to get back at her mother with whom he had a fight earlier. One of three accused arrested in the case, Shantisingh Rajput, was granted bail earlier.
The bail application filed by Paul through his lawyer Ajay Dubey said, “It is pertinent to note that the victim girl (Chrisann) had allegedly carried the trophy from Mumbai Airport to Sharjah, which was subjected to check at both the airports. However, no contraband whatsoever was detected in the alleged trophy.”
“Thereafter, the victim girl threw the said trophy in dustbin. However, upon instructions of her mother, the complainant removed it back from the dustbin and allegedly handed it over to the police authorities,” he said.It adds, “The victim had disposed the trophy in the dustbin and therefore was not in possession or had any control over the alleged trophy until the time it was took over again.”
The application says, “It is therefore humbly submitted that in view of the fact that the alleged trophy being subjected to check at both the airports did not detect any contraband but according to the complainant had contraband after the victim regained the possession of the alleged trophy makes the entire case of the prosecution suspicious.”
The bail application said that the statement made by the complainant before the police is not consistent with the complaint given before the Indian embassy.
The bail application further states that the witnesses whose statements have been used to prove the case against Paul have only seen him once and a Test Identification Parade (TIP) had not been conducted.
The Mumbai crime branch (Unit X) filed a chargesheet against Paul, his alleged accomplice Rajesh Bobhate (42) and Shantisingh Rajput (27) on June 21. The police has registered an offence in April and arrested the accused.As per police, Paul tried to get back at five persons for various reasons since January this year. With the help of his accomplices, he handed them over a trophy or a cake that had drugs hidden in it and sent them to Sharjah where they were arrested.
Of the five, two including Chrisann and one Clayton Rodrigues were arrested by Sharjah authorities and put behind bars. Chrisann has subsequently been released on bail.
