Calcutta, Feb. 16: Police said that something traumatic did happen to the lady who alleged rape at gunpoint in a moving car in Calcutta on the night of February 5 but added they have come across "several inconsistencies" in her account. The 37-year-old mother of two had said on television yesterday that she was sexually assaulted at gunpoint inside a moving car between Park Street and the Exide crossing. The facts of the case are still shrouded in mystery, and no arrest has been carried out.The Telegraph had today desisted from publishing the names of the accused as the newspaper could not independently verify the allegations. Senior police officers had also told the newspaper of some discrepancies, most of which matched those listed by investigators on Thursday. The Telegraph is publishing the names now as the newspaper has spoken to a key person named by the lady and the police have formally identified the other two accused while cautioning that no evidence had been found against them so far. "It is apparent that something had happened that night. But the evidence suggests prima facie that the persons who have been accused are not involved. We are yet to ascertain what exactly happened that night," said joint commissioner of police (crime) Damayanti Sen. Senior police officials told The Telegraph that they were hopeful of cracking the case by Friday morning, thanks to "a vital lead" that has emerged from the site of the meeting between the victim and her alleged assailants. The following are the accounts of the lady on Wednesday and that of the police, on the record and off the record, on Thursday based on their investigations. Lady said: "Around 12.45am (at the nightclub), I was sitting alone and there was this particular guy, Lavi Gidwani, sitting across the bar on the side with his friends, and he was looking at me for a very long time, saying 'Hello' and 'Hi' and smiling. I also said hello and he came, we got introduced and started talking…." Police: The Lavi Gidwani being referred to, and identified by the lady from a Facebook picture, is in Canada. "As per immigration records and all evidence, Lavi Gidwani has been in Canada since January 2 and has not returned to the country since. We have checked with all immigration ports," said police commissioner R.K. Pachnanda. If immigration officials have not made a mistake, the only way a person could have made his way to India and returned was by impersonating someone else or by using a fake passport. The Telegraph spoke to Lavi Gidwani on the phone today and he insisted that he was appearing for an examination at the Sheridan Learning & Teaching Environment in Toronto on the morning of February 6, hours after the alleged assault in Calcutta. Till late on Thursday, the woman stuck to her stand that it was Lavi Gidwani she had met at the nightclub. "I will never forget his face and it was him," she told interrogators, even when the immigration records were presented to her. Why was she so insistent despite available evidence to the contrary? "If we can answer that question, the case would be cracked," said a senior officer. Lady said: "In the meantime, Lavi Gidwani had introduced me to his two other friends, special friends he said, one was Sharafat Ali and the other was Azhar Ali. There were many others in his group but he introduced me to only these two." Police: "As per evidence collected, they (the two men) were not at the place of occurrence that evening," said Pachnanda. "From witnesses and technical details (call records, mobile tower tracking…), it appears that neither Sharafat Ali nor Azhar Ali was at the spot," added Damayanti Sen. Police sources said the accused had not been arrested despite a rape charge because there was no evidence to corroborate their role in the alleged crime. "How can we arrest the accused when all evidence points to the fact that they were not involved?" asked a senior officer. But why would the victim name them if they were not involved? Again, on the answer to that question hangs this curious case. Lady said: "Lavi asked me where I stayed and I said Behala. He said, 'Don't take the trouble, I have my car, it's parked right outside the entrance, I'll drop you home.' He seemed decent and I did not see any wrong intention from him and so I said okay fine. The car was parked outside, a Honda City or Civic… a Honda car…." Police: Lavi has told The Telegraph and his father has told the police that he does not own a Honda City or Civic. Azhar has a Honda Civic, but there is no evidence yet to link that car to the one used during the alleged assault. Lady said: "Sharafat Ali went on hitting me, in my stomach, on my face, pulling my hair… I was screaming. Then, he took out a gun, put it in my mouth and said 'Chillayegi toh thok denge (If you scream, I'll kill you). After that, he started to rape me. Even after he raped me, he hit me. He kept slapping me on my face and kept biting me…." Police: No confirmation that a gun was used to threaten her. Medical records confirm she had been assaulted but the nature of injuries do not fully corroborate her statement. Lady said: "They pushed me out at the Exide crossing. My jeans had slipped, my blouse was torn, I sat there for five-six minutes and then there was a taxi, I stopped it. I didn't know if it would stop because looking at my condition, people would have got scared. But God's blessing the taxi stopped and I went home to my mother and my two daughters." Police: "It has been found that she actually went to Faroukh Halim's Elliot Road house in a taxi. (Faroukh is the son of former Assembly Speaker and CPM veteran Hashim Abdul Halim). Then Faroukh accompanied her to her Behala home from where he returned home," said Pachnanda. "The woman and her sister had a call centre business for which Rs 1.5 lakh was given by Faroukh," added the police commissioner. Lady said: "We had gone to report the matter to the Park Street police station on February 8, but the FIR was only done the following day." Police: The woman had first turned up at Park Street police station on the evening of February 9. The complaint was taken and the FIR, number 29, lodged at 10.40pm. "When she came to lodge the complaint, she was carrying a medical certificate from NRS," said an officer of the police station. "The certificate mentioned injuries from blows but nothing about rape." On February 9, three days after the alleged assault, the lady had gone to the emergency department of NRS to be treated for "assault". The medical report states: ".... history of assault by five unknown persons including a Sharafat Ali and Zehman Khan". The report does not mention rape. ************************* Chief minister Mamata Banerjee, while leaving Writers' Buildings on Thursday, said: "Ghotona ta shajano hoechhey government ke malign korar jonye. Todonte shob berobe. Ar ja janar police-er theke jeney nin. (The entire incident has been concocted with the motive of maligning the government. Everything will be revealed in the course of the investigation. The police will answer the rest of your questions)." | 
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