Tejpal to appear before Goa Police today

The decision to join the investigation tomorrow came shortly after the Goa police rejected the Tehelka editor's request for time till Saturday to appear before it

Facing imminent arrest, former Tehelka editor Tarun Tejpal on Thursday wrote to Goa Police that he would appear before it on Friday and extended “complete and full cooperation” in its probe into the case in which he had been accused of sexually assaulting his woman colleague.

Advocate Sandeep Kapur said that a letter by Tejpal had been faxed to  Goa Police that he would appear before the investigating officer and join the probe.

Tejpal’s decision to join the the investigation came after the Goa Police declined his plea to extend the 3 pm deadline of Thursday till Saturday and did not rule out his arrest after he failed to appear before it. A copy of the letter, addressed to Sunita Sawant, police inspector, CID/CB, PS Dona Paula, Goa, was made available to the media in which Tejpal described the sequence of receiving the summons issued to him by police and said he “requires a little time” to appear before it as he was not a resident of Goa.

Tejpal, however, assured the investigating officer that he would give his full cooperation in the ongoing investigation. “I hope that is okay, I assure you of my complete and full cooperation. I am also sending a hard copy of the same by courier,” he said. He also said Goa Police had declined to grant him time till Saturday to appear before it. Tejpal also withdrew the petition seeking anticipatory and transit bail from the Delhi High Court, which was to pronounce its order on Friday.

“We have just been given to understand that our plea for extension till Saturday has been disallowed, as per the news reported on the TV channels," Tejpal said.

Earlier in the day, Tejpal also preferred to withdraw the petition seeking anticipatory and transit bail from the Delhi High Court, which was to pronounce its order on Friday.

Tejpal has been charged by the Goa Police with the offence of sexual assault of his junior woman colleague in a five star hotel lift earlier this month.