South Indian actress Leena Maria Paul has mostly been in the news for all the wrong reasons. She first made news in 2013 when she, along with her partner Sukesh Chandrashekhar, was arrested for cheating Chennai-based Canara bank for Rs 19 crore. The duo was again arrested in 2015 by the Economic Offences Wing of the Mumbai Police for cheating people by promising them high returns on investments in a bogus firm.
The actress who featured in films like Madras Cafe , Husbands in Goa and Red Chillies is back in the news after two men on a bike fired shots at a beauty parlour run by her in Kochi on Saturday. There were no casualties in the broad daylight incident that left the residents shocked. Mumbai don Ravi Poojara's name has been linked to the incident, but police say it is an attempt to mislead the probe.
Not much is known about Leena even in industry circles, other than her controversial lifestyle. Leena's propensity to stay in the news despite being a struggling actress has been a subject of discussion. In fact, when Leena was arrested from a farmhouse in south Delhi in 2013, police were shocked to see the fleet of luxury cars she owned—nine of them including a Rolls Royce Phantom, costing a total of Rs 20 crore. According to reports, Leena grew up in Dubai, and pursued dentistry in Bengaluru where she first met Sukesh.
After she was acquitted of the cases in 2016, Leena was reportedly set to bring out her autobiography, Love for a Man.
Her partner Sukesh was again arrested in 2017 in the Election Commission bribery case which allegedly involved AIADMK leader T.T.V. Dhinakaran among others. In January, the Delhi High Court denied him bail.