Former actor seeks anticipatory bail
MUMBAI: A decade after her involvement in the Neeraj Grover murder case, former Kannada actress Maria Susairaj has been linked to a ₹2.72 crore cheating case. Susairaj on Thursday filed a pre-arrest bail plea in the Dindoshi sessions court in the cheating case, in which she is one of four people who allegedly duped a builder. However, she was denied interim relief.
Real estate developer Suraj Jaiswal had registered the case with Powai police in May this year accusing Susairaj along with Paromita Chakravarty, Suresh Khushwaha and Henry Fernandes of cheating him in February 2013.
“Khushwaha introduced me to Chakravarty. Chakravarty called me to a tours and travels office at Powai Plaza. There, they introduced me to Susairaj and Fernandes,” said Jaiswal in his complaint.
The businessman alleged he deposited ₹2.72 crore towards getting a loan of ₹30 crore from Chakravarty. Susairaj told the court in her application through advocate Bhanudas Jagtap that she was in Malaysia for a bakery course in the early part of 2013 when Jaiswal was allegedly cheated. She also stated that Chakravarty “briefly introduced” her to Jaiswal towards the end of 2013 and not in February.
As per her application, the tours and travels office was taken on lease by Fernandes in November 2013 and it is “impossible” that she could have met Jaiswal in February 2013 at the office.
Following the financial dispute, Susairaj stated she was summoned by the Powai police where she recorded her statement.
Susairaj was previously arrested in another cheating case by the Vadodara police in 2015 for allegedly duping Haj pilgrims to the tune of ₹2.11 crore involving both Chakravarty and Fernandes. Incidentally, Jaiswal was also arrested in the same case.
In her application, Susairaj also referred to her acquaintance with Chakravarty as her “bad luck” and a “dark chapter” in her life. She also said her name is being dragged into the case because she is a celebrity and the case would catch media attention.
The matter came up before judge DD Khoche on Friday. The court did not grant any interim relief to the former actor and will hear the matter on January 4.