Actor and former office-bearer Upasana Singh has levelled serious allegations against fellow actors Poonam Dhillon and Padmini Kolhapure, claiming they were involved in the unauthorised breaking of fixed deposits belonging to the Cine and Television Artistes' Association (CINTAA) — reportedly worth around ₹90 lakh. The allegations, made on 1 October 2026 in Mumbai, mark a sharp escalation in an ongoing leadership dispute within the prominent industry body.

The Allegation: Frozen Accounts Allegedly Accessed

According to Upasana, CINTAA holds fixed deposits and bank accounts across five banks. She claimed that when the previous committee was dissolved, all five banks were formally notified and the accounts were requested to remain frozen until a new committee was legally constituted and a court order confirmed its authority to operate them.

'We have FDs in five banks and accounts in five banks. When our committee was dissolved, Deepak Parashar was the treasurer. So, we informed all the banks that the committee had been dissolved. We told them that when a new committee comes, whoever takes charge, the accounts can be opened. Until then, they should remain frozen,' Upasana alleged.

How the Accounts Were Allegedly Reopened

Upasana alleged that despite the freeze, one of the accounts was accessed — and that the FD money was subsequently transferred into a separate personal account. She alleged that office staff played a facilitating role by accompanying the accused to the bank and using the association's stamp, email ID, and office address to complete a KYC verification process.

'They must have needed an authorised signature. But you see, the account was frozen. So what did they do? They met the office staff. The office staff is involved with them. They took the staff to the bank and showed them the stamp, the email ID and the office, and asked them to open the account through KYC,' she alleged.

Upasana specifically named Poonam Dhillon, Padmini Kolhapure, and Paintal as individuals who allegedly presented themselves at the bank. 'They took Paintal saab, Poonam and Padmini and told the bank, 'This is our stamp, this is our email ID and this is our office. You open our account through KYC,' she claimed.

Key Concern: Authorisation and Committee Status

Central to Upasana's allegations is the question of whether those who accessed the accounts held legitimate authority at the time. She alleged that the individuals in question declared themselves as the committee despite, in her view, not holding valid positions. 'When you are not holding any position and you are not the general secretary, how can you say that you are the general secretary? They declared themselves as the committee,' she alleged.

She further questioned the procedural propriety of breaking institutional FDs without membership consent. 'It is such a big issue because if you want to break the FDs of any institution, you have to ask the members first. How can they break the FDs?' she said.

Extent of Transfers Still Unclear

Upasana stated that the precise number of FDs broken remained unknown. 'The money was transferred in different ways. We don't know how many FDs have been broken because we have around ₹90 lakh there,' she said. She added that the transferred funds had reportedly been used across different places, though specifics were not disclosed.

No Response Yet from Dhillon or Kolhapure

As of the time of reporting, neither Poonam Dhillon nor Padmini Kolhapure had responded to the allegations. The wider CINTAA leadership dispute, within which these allegations sit, continues to unfold, with the outcome likely to have significant implications for the association's governance and the security of its financial assets. Legal and institutional responses are expected in the coming days.