Innocent B.C. woman bombarded after suspect with the same name charged in drug bust

ShastinaSashiKumar works for Radio Bula Masti, a multilingual station based in Vancouver, and says she has nocriminal record. She's 24 years old andlives in Surrey, B.C.

Shastina Shrena Kumar is an alleged drug trafficker, recently charged with nearly a dozen gang-related offences. She's 21 years old and also lives in Surrey, B.C.

If you had to read those names twice to nail down the difference, you wouldn't be the only one and the similarity created a major mistaken identity problem for the arrest-free Kumar.

Mixed-up messages

The 21-year-old Kumar was charged in an investigationbelieved to be linked to Lower Mainland gang conflict on Monday.

Kumar, the one without a criminal record, says she soon started getting nasty messages on Facebook from strangers who thought she was the "otherShastina."

Some claimed Kumarowed them money and othersthreatened her.

"It was still quite scary for a while ... Iwas kind of overwhelmed," she said

At first, Kumar said sheblocked the usersbecause she didn't know why they were messaging her.

Then Bula Mastilistenersstarted callingand her boss started asking questions. Confused, Kumar did a quick Google search and found articles about the stranger's arrest.

Then, everything clicked.

"I was like 'Oh,OK, that's what's going on," she said. "So I just told everyone, 'No no no, you got the wrong girl.'

Kumar added her middle name to her Facebook profile and posted a public status explaining the situation. The threats and messagesstopped after that, much to the 24-year-old'srelief.She alsocontactedCBC to tell her story.

She wassurprised that there are two young women in Surrey with the same name, saying her name is inspired by a hotel in California.

"Sometimes I've thought I mustbe the only Shastinain the world."

The otherKumarhas been released on bail and is under house arrest.