Bhagalpur, June 30: Juhi Tyagi (25), a research scholar associated with a US university, today denied being abducted by the Maoists though she refused to appear before the reporters or disclose her whereabouts.

“Please leave me alone. I am extremely busy doing my research on poor people who are being accused as Maoist supporters. But I am upset at the false news of my abduction making the rounds,” Juhi called up The Telegraph to clarify.

Jamui superintendent of police R.N. Singh, who had yesterday suspected the abduction of Juhi and her driver near Mahulitand village under Kouwakol police station, today denied her kidnapping. “The media reports on her kidnapping are not true,” Singh said.

Bihar director-general of police Neel Mani said neither Juhi’s relatives nor the driver’s had lodged any police complaint about the abduction. “The police verified the issue on the basis of the media report to find that nothing of sorts had happened.”

Sources, however, said Juhi who had been working on underprivileged people in the Maoist-affected areas for over two years might have gone to rebels’ hideout in connection with her research. The rebels might have questioned her to ensure that she was not a police informer. Juhi, sources said, used to interact more with the underprivileged than keep in touch with the police.

One Brahmadeo Das, a relative of Juhi’s driver, Pradip Das, had received a call from unknown caller yesterday, telling that Juhi and Pradip were spotted going to the rebels’ hideout. Brahmdeo shared this information with the media but did not lodge any complaint with the police.