More trouble for Kasliwal scion

By Mateen Hafeez/TNN

Mumbai: The Worli police on Wednesday are believed to have recorded the statement of another woman who alleged that Abhishek Kasliwal and two of his friends raped her on the Mumbai-Pune expressway three weeks ago. This woman is said be a call centre employee in her mid-twenties. However, the police refused to confirm or deny this.

“We will not disclose anything about our witnesses,’’ said zonal deputy police commissioner Santosh Rastogi.

“This is clearly an attempt to malign Abhishek’s character and appears to be completely fabricated,’’ said Abhishek’s father, Ambuj Kasliwal. “We have nothing else to say in this matter as the police are carrying out their investigation and we are fully cooperating with them,’’ he added.

Meanwhile, the Worli police are likely to conduct a lie-detector test on Abhishek, scion of the Kasliwal family which owns Shree Ram Mills, who was arrested on charges of raping a 52-year-old woman in his Mercedes car in the early morning hours on Saturday. “The option to conduct a lie-detector test is open to us. We may ask the court to grant permission for the test,’’ joint police commissioner (law and order) Arup Patnaik said on Wednesday.

The investigators have also traced the clothes the accused had worn at the time of the incident.

Clothes sent to forensic lab
Mumbai: The clothes Abhishek Kasliwal was wearing at the time when he allegedly raped at 52-year-old woman on Saturday have been sent to a forensic lab, said zonal deputy police commissioner Santosh Rastogi. He said the victim was from a good family and refuted allegations that she was either a commercial sex worker or worked in a bar.

The police also spoke to her relatives in Visakhapatnam. “She told us in her FIR that she was waiting for a friend outside the Prince of Wales museum on Friday when Abhishek offered her a lift,’’ Rastogi said.

However, the police is still to record the statement of the friend for whom the victim was said to be waiting. “We will record his statement, corroborate all the facts. As of now, we are relying on the victim’s statement,’’ said an officer.

Statements of at least ten persons have been recorded so far, including the victim, her friends Stephanie Jordan (45) and Dilip Shetty (20), and the two watchmen at Shree Ram Mills, Santosh Tawde and Nagraj Gutt. The watchmen’s statements may be re-recorded.

The police on Wednesday once again recorded the statement of Jordan and Shetty.

The Times of India, March 16, 2006