The closed circuit television (CCTV) footage has been recovered from the five-star hotel where Tehelka editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal allegedly sexually assaulted a journalist twice, but there is no footage from the lift, since no cameras were installed in the lifts, the Goa police said on Saturday.
On Friday, Goa police filed an FIR against Tarun Tejpal, under charges of rape and attempting to outrage the modesty of a woman in an incident that took place during the Think festival in Goa two weeks ago.
“The footage is to be technically analysed,” said OP Mishra, deputy inspector general of police, Goa. “We are taking the assistance of the concerned agencies… there was no camera in the lift.” A three-member Goa police team left for Delhi on Saturday morning.
Tejpal in a statement released on Friday requested investigators to “examine and release the CCTV footage so that the accurate version of events stands clearly revealed”.
The area where the incident is alleged to have taken place is relatively secluded. The two-storey building is one of the several scattered blocks in the hotel premises for guest rooms. A large section of the premises was used for the festival which took place from November 8 to 10.
Hotel authorities said they had no knowledge of the incident at the time. “We had no direct knowledge of the matter,” said Stefan Radstrom, the general manager of the hotel.
{{/usCountry}}Hotel authorities said they had no knowledge of the incident at the time. “We had no direct knowledge of the matter,” said Stefan Radstrom, the general manager of the hotel.
{{/usCountry}}The Tehelka editor-in-chief, 50, faces a sentence ranging from 10 years to life imprisonment if found guilty.
READ: Taj literary festival organisers close doors on Tejpal, won’t display his books
View video: Goa cops file FIR against Tarun Tejpal