Former Kannada starlet from Mysuru on the run; named in seven complaints of cheating

Mysuru:  It is nearly 11 years since the sensational murder case of Television Executive Neeraj Grover in which the Mysuru’s former Kannada starlet Maria Monica Susairaj was an accused. She was released after serving a jail sentence of three years.

After all these years, Maria Susairaj is in the news again, as she is said to be on the run from Mumbai and Thane Police in multiple cases of cheating, forgery and intimidation.

There are seven complaints registered against Maria and her partners in crime Paromita Chakraborty and Anita Vedpathak. The Bombay High Court had rejected the anticipatory bail of Maria in one of the cases in January this year and she has been on the run ever since.

Maria’s dream of making it big in Bollywood was jettisoned when her boyfriend, Naval Officer Emile Jerome Mathew, killed TV Executive Neeraj Grover in her presence. She later met Paromita and Anita while serving jail sentence in Byculla jail.

The three got along very well in jail and remained good friends after Maria’s term ended and the other two were released on bail. In all seven complaints lodged against the trio, Paromita masqueraded as former West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s daughter and Anita as power-broker.

In each case the trio would offer crores of rupees in easy loans to its victims or lure them into partnership in a business venture with promise of big profits. In all seven complaints, victims have mentioned Maria’s presence when deals were discussed. The Police have in their possession several of Maria and Paromita’s photographs, some of them clicked on holidays across the country.

Kamal Jain, a partner in a jewellery business in JJ Marg area in Mumbai was one of the trio’s earliest victims. According to the complaint filed by Jain at the JJ Marg Police Station, Paromita and Anita bought jewellery from his shop many times in 2013. Though they paid for their purchases some of the times, the three did not clear the bills worth Rs. 88 lakh.

When Jain began asking for money, he started receiving threats from various quarters. On one such occasion, a history sheeter from Ahmedabad visited his shop and asked him to “settle the matter with the three women.”

“Paromita was introduced to me by Constable Pratibha Mhatre of the Byculla Women’s Prison, who was my customer,” Jain had mentioned in his Police complaint, indirectly pointing to their  connection with the Police Department.

It is also learnt that Maria and Paromita have a cheating case registered against them in Vododara Police Station, Gujarat, where they had accepted money from many people for Haj pilgrimage and vanished with the money.

A few victims of the three women have written to Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis about the cheating by the trio. However, one of the victims Mansi Pandit said that Police were reluctant to file an FIR against the three.

“The three women offered me loans with cheap interest in 2016. They said they could organise up to Rs. 2 crore for me. The meetings took place in plush restaurants and they always arrived in big cars and spent freely. I later found out that it was all a carefully thought out plant to fool gullible people,” said Mansi.

However, Advocate Naveen Chomal, who represents Maria, Paromita and Anita, said his clients have no idea about these cheating cases. “These are motivated allegations made by a group of seasoned blackmailers,” he said.

Meanwhile, Police Inspector Rajkumar Kothimare, who is attached to the Thane Anti-Extortion Cell, said a separate team has been set up to investigate the allegations against the three.

“We are looking for Maria. Paromita too has violated her bail condition, while Anita is out on bail,” he said. A senior Police Inspector G.D. Pingale of Chitalsar Police Station in Thane said that a case would be registered against Maria, Paromita and Anita in the Mansi Pandit case.