The Mumbai police on Wednesday said the two women who were molested outside the J W Marriot hotel in the city's suburban Juhu in the early hours of Tuesday were Non Residents Indians from California and have left Mumbai after telling the police that they did not want to proceed with the matter any further.

"They said they had reached Gujarat from California on a vacation and had come to Mumbai from Valsad. They had come here to see Bipasha Basu's [Images] show on New Year's Eve.

"They said they did not want to take the matter any further and left town. They also refused to give us any information about their background," Additional Commissioner of Police (Western) Archana Tyagi said.

Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister R R Patil said the incident happened as the two women stepped out of the hotel and ran into a bunch of unruly revellers. "We will take strict action against the people involved. Once the accused are arrested, the case will be tried in a fast track court to ensure speedy justice," he said.

Joint Commissioner of Police (law and order) K L Prasad said the police have registered a case and the investigations have begun.

"Since the two women did not want to lodge a complaint, we have made the photographers of a daily newspaper, who shot the pictures and alerted the police, as the complainants and have filed charges," he said.