Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap on Friday denied all allegations that he raped an actor in 2013, The Hindu reported. This came a day after he was interrogated by the Mumbai Police for eight hours in connection with the case.

Kashyap denied any wrongdoing in the matter and produced documentary evidence to show that he was in Sri Lanka in August 2013 to shoot one of his films. He said the complaint, which alleged that the incident took place at the same time, is an “outright lie”.

Kashyap’s lawyer Priyanka Khimani released a statement on Friday. “These sudden, belated allegations of an alleged incident of August 2013 have been widely publicised by the complainant for the purpose of vilifying Mr Kashyap, irrespective of the outcome of the judicial process,” the statement said. “He has sought severe action against the complainant for misusing the criminal justice system and for hijacking the MeToo movement for her ulterior motives.”

The statement also said that the complainant had kept changing her version of events in her interactions with the media. “Mr Kashyap is apprehensive that now that the falsity of her allegations in the FIR [first information report] have been established, she will alter her version of events in the investigative process as well,” the statement said. It added that Kashyap intended to pursue legal remedies available to him “vigorously”.

An official at the Versova Police Station in Mumbai confirmed that Kashyap had denied the allegations, The Indian Express reported. “Our investigation is still in the preliminary stage,” he said.
“We summoned Kashyap to seek answers to the allegations made against him. We are continuing to gather evidence.”

Meanwhile, the complainant tweeted that her lawyer will move an application before the court to conduct a narco analysis, lie detector and polygraph test on Kashyap.

On September 27, the actor and her lawyer had visited the Versova police station to demand that the complaint be investigated on priority. She also threatened to start a hunger strike unless police arrested Kashyap immediately.

On September 28, she met Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale. The Union minister had announced that his Republican Party of India would launch a protest if Kashyap was not arrested within a week. On September 29, the complainant met Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari.