Shimla, Nov 30 : The investigations in the alleged theft of the George Cross medal from a Himachal Pradesh village took a twist Monday with police saying that the witnesses have admitted that the thumb impression on an affidavit was that of the soldier's widow.

Brahmi Devi, the widow of Naik Kirpa Ram of the Frontier Force Rifles, who was posthumously awarded George Cross medal, the highest decoration for bravery in 1946, has been saying that the medal was stolen from her house in 2002.

The Himachal Pradesh police are investigating the case on the basis of details provided by London-based auction house Dix Noon Webb which has listed the medal for sale.

Nimrod Dix, managing director of Dix Noonan Webb, said he has an April 2000 affidavit from Brahmi Devi, in which she says she was "unable to keep this medal" and was, therefore, making a gift of it to a man named Kirpal Singh "with my sweet will".

He said that on the basis of the affidavit, the medal was listed for the auction Dec 2.

"The two witnesses admitted during the investigation that the affidavit (as possessed by the auction house) was the original document. They also admitted that the signature on the affidavit was theirs and the thumb impression was that of Brahmi Devi," Additional Director General of Police I. D. Bhandari told IANS.

But the witnesses said the medal was not handed over to Kirpal Singh in their presence, Bhandari said.

"The affidavit is just a mutual agreement between the two parties and holds no legal validity. We are still investigating the case as Kirpal Singh might have influenced or allured Brahmi Devi to take the possession of the medal," he said. Brahmi Devi has said she is totally illiterate.

Kirpal Singh was detained from Punjab's Moga town Sunday for interrogation in the case.

Bhandari added that the authenticity of Brahmi Devi's thumb impression is yet to be verified in a forensic laboratory.

"Still, we need more time to investigate the case thoroughly. We will contact the auctioneers when the exact picture would emerge," he said.

Brahmi Devi has already denied that she had ever sold the medal - Britain's highest civilian honour for bravery - to anyone.

The medal could fetch around 20,000 pounds at the auction.(IANS)