BJP 'settling scores' with Tejpal: Faleiro

Tehelka editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal, accused of rape, Saturday found support from former union minister Eduardo Faleiro, whose daughter Sonia was once employed as an editor at the investigative news weekly.

In a statement released to the media Saturday, Faleiro, a Congressman, accused the BJP and the Goa government of harassing Tejpal and "settling scores" with him.

"We should condemn the misuse of Goa Police by the present government in the case of Tarun Tejpal, the founding editor of Tehelka," the former minister of state for external affairs said.

"It is now very obvious that the BJP at the national level as well as in Goa are bent on settling scores and harassing Tejpal to the utmost," he further said.

At the same time, however, Faleiro said he would not engage with the merits of the case. "True facts will be known only after examination of the CCTV footage at the hotel where Thinkfest was held," he said.

A junior colleague of Tejpal has accused him of molesting her twice during a conference promoted by Tehelka at a five star hotel in Goa.

Faleiro's daughter was employed for several years at Tehelka's Mumbai bureau, and rose to become one of many editors at the magazine.

Faleiro said Saturday that several award winning investigative stories published by the Tejpal-led Tehelka had hit the BJP hard over the years and that the editor was now being "harassed".

"The present state government should stop misusing the police for partisan ends. The police must conduct a fair investigation into the Tejpal case. It will unveil the truth," Faleiro said.