Panaji: Goa police has finished recording the statement of the three Tehelka journalists whom the woman journalist confided to about what transpired between her and Tejpal at a five star hotel on two occasions when he allegedly sexually assaulted her.
The three colleagues deposed before the Chief Judicial Magistrate at 11 AM on Friday. "All the three deposed separately before of the magistrate. Their statement was being recorded the entire day," said a senior crime branch officer.
Meanwhile, Tehelka managing editor Shoma Chaudhury's statement would be recorded by the magistrate on Saturday. Crime branch officials, who are currently interrogating Tejpal, will produce him before the court on Saturday as his six-day long custody ends.
A senior official said that they would seek another eight days of remand as the interrogation is yet to complete. Tejpal is yet to be taken to the hotel, where the alleged incident had taken place during the Tehelka ThinkFest event about a month ago, he said.
The accused, he stated, has been spending most of the time getting medically tested, leaving hardly any time for the investigating agency to interrogate him.
Chaudhury's statement is "very crucial" as she was the first person to have come to know of alleged sexual assault on the young journalist by Tejpal.
Tejpal was on Wednesday subjected to a second round of medical tests, just a couple of days after he had undergone several medical examinations, including a potency test, whose result was positive.
Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar at a press conference on Wednesday, Parrikar said the police would file the charge sheet in the case in one to one and half months but ruled and political interference in the investigations.
Parrikar also said he would ensure that Tejpal is done justice in the case. "I will ensure that justice is given to Tejpal. Justice does not mean not to punish him but a fair investigation would be conducted in the matter," he said.
Meanwhile, Judicial Magistrate First Class Kshama Joshi rejected Tejpal's application for a fan in the lock-up where he is in police custody since Saturday. On December 2, Tejpal's lawyer had petitioned the court for a fan to be installed in the lock up on humanitarian grounds.
A woman journalist of Tehelka, who later resigned, has accused Tejpal of sexually assaulting her twice on November 7 and 8 in Goa. Tejpal has been booked under Sections 354A (outraging the modesty of a woman) and 376 (2 (K) (custodial rape) of IPC.
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