Punewar had disappeared on December 27 after her husband saw her off near Kopri.
Talking to media persons, the 44-year-old actress and a mother of two children said that she had stage-managed the whole episode because she did not want her children to suffer the ignominy of their mother running away with a younger person. She added that she eloped because she was fed up with her husband.
A police source said it was the calls that were made to Sanjay Sonkar, a common friend of Alka and Alok, 29, that nailed them. During investigations, Alka’s husband Sanjay had revealed about a third SIM card that Alka was using. When the police checked this number, they found that both Alka and Alok were constantly in touch with Sonkar. The police picked up Sonkar from his Panvel residence and he spilled the beans. “Last week, Alka texted Sonkar from a new number and we tracked down the location to Chennai,” said the source.
On December 27, Alka went missing and after a day her car was found in Khopoli valley.
Her mobile phone was found around 100 metres away from the car.
In true filmy style, they staged her kidnap/missing drama. They bought a Maruti 800 car for Rs25,000 and threw it in the Khopoli valley so that it would look like an accident or kidnap.