Flown to US,says ‘witness’; rubbish,say cops

She said she had been escorted to the international airport by four men and flown to the US for a court appearance and back. She claimed that she had spoken of Satara only to keep the US trip confidential.

The Mumbai police challenged this claim by citing an immigration check. Udaiyya does not have a passport and never went out of the country,they said.

Udaiyya claims to know nothing about the men,their credentials or the agency they represented,but stressed that they had drawn up all the necessary papers required to take her to the US.

“These four men,three foreigners and an Indian as translator,wanted to record my statement. They claimed to be investigation officials from the US and kept asking if I would be willing to repeat my statement in front of officers there,” she said.

“They called me up at 5 pm on Saturday and asked me to be ready by night. I was scared at first and refused,but then my family convinced me. Somehow,some journalists learnt about this and arrived at my house. All night we waited for the men to come,but they didn’t till the next morning. They made me get into a car and did not even let me go back indoors to inform my family,” she said.

“I thought it would be a journey of a few hours,but it took over 18-20 hours. After landing,I was taken to a court,given a black garb and a hood to wear,and then my statement was recorded before a judge. I was then taken to a hotel room and later flown back. After reaching Mumbai,they offered to drop me back home but I said I would take a cab and they gave me Rs 500 for the fare.”

The crime branch minced no words in its dismissal: “These rumours and talk of her having gone to the US to assist investigators are complete rubbish. Nothing of the sort has happened. She has given a police statement saying she had gone to Satara. Besides,she does not have a passport,” said JCP (crime) Rakesh Maria.