Goa Police issues alert to prevent Tejpal from leaving the country

Alert issued after affected journalist deposed before Goa crime branch team in Mumbai

The Goa Police on Tuesday issued an immigration check post alert against Tarun Tejpal, former editor of Tehelka, for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman colleague in Goa.

The alert, issued after the woman journalist deposed before the state crime branch team investigating the case in Mumbai, will ensure Tejpal doesn’t leave the country.

Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court on Tuesday postponed Tejpal’s interim bail plea in the case to Wednesday. In his plea, Tejpal said the encounter was only a light-hearted banter that led to a moment of privacy between the two individuals.

“The alleged colleague referred above continued to party and was completely normal and friendly all throughout her stay in Goa. To the shock of the applicant, on November 18, 2013, the applicant was informed by the managing editor of Tehelka magazine that she had received a complaint alleging sexual harassment against him by a female colleague. The applicant was shocked to learn a false complaint was sought to be projected as an incident of alleged harassment. The applicant categorically refuted the same,” the bail application said.

Tejpal has also said there could be a political motive against him, as Tehelka had earlier conducted a sting operation on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which led to the resignation of then BJP president Bangaru Laxman.

“Moreover, the mannerism and the scale in which a particular political party has unleashed the wrath of its vengeance upon the applicant, in the garb of the present FIR (first information report), are synonymous to the previous attempts of the BJP to malign and target the applicant and the same is apparent by the statements issued by various party leaders. The wrath of BJP leaders against the present applicant, whom the Goa Police cannot antagonise, is best manifested from the statements made by them demanding the applicant should ‘atone in jail’. Some have even alluded to Tehelka’s first sting operation that resulted in the resignation of then BJP president Bangaru Laxman, suggesting it was now payback time,” the bail application said.

On Tuesday, Rana Ayyub resigned as senior editor of Tehelka, taking the number of total resignations since the issue broke out to seven. On Monday, the victim of the alleged sexual assault had resigned, saying she was traumatised by the lack of support from the magazine. Tejpal is alleged to have sexually assaulted the colleague during the Think 2013 event organised by the magazine in Goa.

In a related development, Trinamool Congress MP K D Singh, who on Tuesday told a TV news channel he owns 35-36 per cent in Tehelka, said he was looking to sell some of his stake.