A woman who was allegedly involved in a sex scandal in Srinagar in 2006 has claimed that the Central Bureau of Investigation forced her to change her testimony, The Indian Express reported on Tuesday. Two ministers, top police officers and several influential people were among those named accused in the scandal.

The investigating agency forced her to depose against the accused, the woman told the Punjab and Haryana High Court in a petition. She alleged that her false deposition has penalised innocent people.

In 2006, a group of people had submitted a video, which purportedly showed her nude, to the Srinagar Police. “The examination of the petitioner in custody, where she was forced to make allegations against innocent persons, has resulted in the false implication of the people,” the woman said in her petition. The Jammu and Kashmir High Court later handed over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation after the scandal drew criticism from various quarters.

The woman also alleged that the “fear psychosis generated by CBI” had prevented her from appearing in the trial court, where the case was previously heard. The trial was transferred from Jammu and Kashmir to Chandigarh and the woman was cross-examined as a witness on April 27, 2007. All the accused are out on bail and several have been acquitted.

The petitioner moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court against the trial court’s decision to reject her application to recall her as witness in the case. On Tuesday, she asked the High Court to stay the trial court’s proceedings, and permit her to be re-examined as a prosecution witness. One of the accused, Shabir Ahmad Laway, has also sought her re-examination as a witness.

The investigating agency’s counsel, Sumeet Goel, alleged that “the accused and prosecutrix have now connived with each other”.