Two US Olympic Swimmers Face New Brazilian Police Questions

RIO DE JANEIRO, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th August, 2016) - Two top US Olympic swimmers faced new questioning by Brazilian police Thursday after being removed from a US-bound plane over allegations that they may have fabricated a report of an armed mugging. Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz were detained minutes before taking off from Rio de Janeiro for the United States. The gold medal winners underwent a first round of questioning at the airport police station, Rio police said in a statement Thursday. "The passports of the two athletes were taken and they will be questioned again on the case," police said. The two were with star US swimmer Ryan Lochte and another squad member, James Feigen, when they said they were robbed at gunpoint early Sunday.

The report caused the Olympic authorities huge embarrassment, highlighting security worries at an Olympics where Brazil has deployed 85,000 police and soldiers -- double the number used in the 2012 London Games. On Wednesday, a Brazilian judge ordered the swimmers to be detained, saying their story contained inconsistencies. Lochte who has already gone back to the United States, and Feigen, who remains in Brazil, will cooperate with the investigation, broadcaster NBC reported.