Mistaken identity: Bengaluru man pulled in to drugs net

Hyderabad: A Bengaluru resident who was selected in ‘Çharm me’ contest as part of a promotion for the movie ‘Jyothilakshmi’ and took part in the actor’s birthday celebrations in 2015 would have never thought that it would two years later bring him misery. 

The life of T. Nagababu, a software professional, has turned upside down after his picture was repeatedly shown on TV channels, social media and certain newspapers which mistakenly identified him as Tollywood drug case accused Calvin Mascarenhas. 

Nagababu told this newspaper, “The contest was in 2015, and involved the birthday of celebrations of Charmme Kaur, the lead actor in Jyothilakshmi. The contest was to select 10 people who wrote or made an online video praising Charmme.

I won the contest. I am a movie buff and also like Puri Jagannadh for his movies. I uploaded my pictures of participation in Charmme’s birthday that year, in which Puri Jagannadh and other nine winners took part apart from the crew of Jyothilakshmi. This was on Facebook on May 18 2015,” After two years T Nagababu woke up to a shock. 

He said, “Suddenly on July 19, I started receiving calls from my friends, relatives and people known to me, while Puri Jagannadh was being grilled by Excise SIT in Hyderabad. People started doubting me and asked me why I was involved in this. Then, I saw TV channels and social media putting up my picture from Charmme’s birthday and encircled my face saying I am Calvin Mascarenhas. This has shocked me and it is painful that I am dragged into this controversy,” Nagababu said. 

“I have nothing to do with Calvin. I am going to meet Mr Akun Sabarwal the excise enforcement wing director and explain how I have been dragged into this. I am a former senior QA Analyst in Bengaluru company and I did my schooling from Tagore Memorial Boys High School in Raichur and SLN University, Bengaluru. My father migrated to Raichur from Andhra Pradesh.”