PARIS -- The Paris prosecutor's office says Bollywood actress Mallika Sherawat and partner Cyrille Auxenfans were the targets of a botched robbery attempt involving tear gas in a posh area of the French capital.

Agnes Thibault-Lecuivre said Thursday that the incident happened last Friday night in Paris' 16th arrondissement, when suspected robbers set off the tear gas but fled empty-handed. It's unclear why they fled.

Thibault-Lecuivre says Sherawat was not thought to have been physically harmed in the incident, but probably inhaled the tear gas fumes.

Thibault-Lecuivre says investigators think Auxenfans was attacked, but the couple refused to see a doctor to assess possible injuries.

A criminal inquiry has been opened into the incident.

The case comes six weeks after Kim Kardashian reported being robbed at gunpoint in Paris.