Court asks cops to give unedited CCTV footage to Tarun Tejpal

PANAJI: A local court on Saturday asked the Goa government to hand over unedited portion of CCTV footage of the area near a lift in a hotel to senior journalist Tarun Tejpal, accused of sexually assaulting a junior woman colleague last year.

Tejpal had requested the fast track court for the footage which is part of the chargesheet filed by crime branch earlier. The senior journalist sought the footage of the area in the starred hotel for a time period from November 7, 2013 when the crime was alleged to have happened till November 29, when he was arrested.

His lawyers had maintained that the proof of Tejpal's "innocence" lies in the footage which was procured by the investigating agency. The founder-editor of Tehelka magazine is lodged in a jail here in a case of alleged sexual assault of his junior woman colleague at the hotel during an event.

In its chargesheet filed on February 17, the crime branch accused Tejpal of rape, sexual harassment and outraging modesty of woman.