Tejpal case: No CCTV footage from hotel elevator

In what could be a setback for the sexual assault probe against Tehelka editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal, police said Saturday CCTV cameras were not installed in the hotel elevator where Tejpal is alleged to have sexually assaulted his junior colleague twice.

"There are no CCTVs in the elevator," Deputy Inspector General of Police O.P. Mishra told reporters at a press conference at the police headquarters.

The victim in her complaint to Tehelka managing editor Shoma Chaudhury had said that Tejpal had sexually assaulted her twice in the elevator in the Club House section of the Grand Hyatt five-star resort during the high profile conference Think Fest Nov 7-8.

Tejpal in a statement released Friday also requested investigators to "examine and release the CCTV footage so that the accurate version of events stands clearly revealed".

"I cannot reveal any more information because investigations are on," Mishra said.

Sources, however, said CCTV footage from outside the elevator does show the victim leaving the elevator "in a hurry" on one occasion.

A Goa police team is in Delhi to collect evidence in the case where Tejpal has been accused of rape and outraging the modesty of the victim.