NEW DELHI: An air hostess who had lodged a dowry-harassment complaint against her husband and in-laws is in the dock for allegedly submitting fake bills claiming her parents gave jewellery worth Rs 2.5 lakh for her wedding.

Neeru Dahiya had accused her husband Jitendra Lora of attempting to kill her. She had alleged that Lora and his parents tried to set her on fire on March 9, 2004, a year after marriage.

The police registered a cheating case last week after their investigation proved forgery of bills. The report has also been submitted to the high court where Lora's bail application is pending.

A police officer said they started a probe into the bills after the high court asked them to ascertain the veracity of Dahiya's allegations. Dahiya had claimed her parents gave dowry worth Rs 30 lakh in the wedding.

Although Dahiya got back part of her stridhan, the court asked for a verification when it came to jewellery. Dahiya had produced two receipts and two quotations.

On May 25, 2004, Justice R C Chopra asked the investigating officer to investigate the allegations. Sub-inspector Bhanu Pratap Singh recorded the statement of the owners of Maria Jewellers and Prem Jewellers.

Both told the police that the Dahiyas never purchased jewellery from their shop. One of them said the quotations were procured by Dahiya's relative who requested for a back-dated bill.

Advocate for Lora, Ramesh Gupta said: "When my client's father learnt of the SI's report on the fake bills, he filed an application with the deputy commissioner of police (New Delhi) urging them to register an FIR since this amounted to even cheating the court."