Irani spots hidden camera at Fabindia changing room

Union Minister Smriti Irani on Friday raised an alarm after she spotted a hidden camera at an outlet of a leading garment store at Candolim near Panaji, in Goa. The camera was pointed towards the trial room she used while trying out some clothes.

A case of voyeurism has been filed and four employees of the Fabindia-owned outlet were arrested by Goa Police following a complaint by BJP MLA Michael Lobo, who was called by Irani after the incident.

The HRD minister, along with her businessman husband Zubin Irani, is on a private visit to Goa. Irani came across the camera when she was in the showroom to buy clothes and immediately protested, alerting her husband, said Superintendent of Police (North) Umesh Gaonkar.

Fabindia is a Rs 1,000-crore homegrown lifestyle brand better known for ethnic wear.

Gaonkar said objectionable images were seen from the recordings of the hidden camera that was seized by police.

"We will also be questioning all the top bosses of Fabindia, including their CEO and MD (William Bissell) tomorrow (Saturday)," Karthik Kashyap, SP of Goa Crime Branch, told PTI on Friday.

Footage from the camera, installed four months ago, according to staff at the store, was being recorded in a computer in the manager's office, Lobo said, adding it held many recordings of people changing in the trial room.

In a statement, Fabindia said it is "deeply concerned and shocked at this allegation. We are in the process of investigating this internally and will be cooperating fully with the police."

Bissell said there are security cameras in all the stores but they are not in trial rooms. "They cannot see what is happening inside the trial room," he said.