Tehelka editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal, accused in journalist sexual assault case, will be produced before Judicial Magistrate First Class, Panaji, on Monday as his 12-day judicial custody ended on Sunday.
Sources in Goa Crime Branch police said that they lwould move a formal application before the Magistrate on Monday seeking extension of judicial custody by another 14 days. Investigation in the case was on track and charge sheet would be filed in a month or so..
After recording the statements of the victim, three former Tehelka journalists as witnesses and Tehelka's former managing editor Shoma Chaudhury, all sworn before the Magistrate under Section 164 of the Cr.PC, the Crime Branch investigating the case recorded statements of additional witnesses based on the statement of the victim. The victim had spoken to a few others about the incident which occurred on November 7 and 8 while in Goa during the magazine’s ThinkFest event.
The Crime Branch teams went to Mumbai and Bangalore recently and met six journalists, and recorded their statements under Section 161 of the Cr.PC. Two of these journalists live in Mumbai, while the other four reside in Bangalore. While one was a colleague of the victim, five others are freelance journalists, they said.
The Crime Branch has also forwarded the mobile phone, digital video recorder, CCTV footage, computer and other material, seized as part of the investigation from Tehelka office, to the Central Institute of Forensic Science Lab, Hyderabad for chemical analysis.
Mr. Tejpal has been lodged in the Sada sub-jail, Vasco in south Goa.
