Four more days in police custody for Tarun Tejpal

Former editor of Tehelka magazine Tarun Tejpal was on Saturday remanded to four days more of police custody. Tejpal’s six-day custody was to end today. He was produced in a Goa court mid-morning on Saturday where investigators told the judge that fresh sections of the law were being applied in the case. These include sections of the Indian Penal Code pertaining to wrongful confinement and wrongful restraint. According to reports, police sought eight days of extended custody, a demand stiffly opposed by Tejpal’s lawyers. POlice reportedly said some statements crucial to the investigation are still to be made, apart from requiring more time for custodial interrogation. Some further recoveries are to be made too, police said. [caption id=“attachment_127264” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption] The magistrate granted the Goa Police four more days of custody. A defence lawyer told journalists outside the court that they they are satisfied with the judicial pronouncement and will abide by it. Meanwhile, former managing editor of Tehelka Shoma Chaudhury was in the same court building on Saturday afternoon where her statement was recorded in front of a magistrate. Her statement will be crucial as questions have been raised on whether she may have suppressed facts or whether she cooperated with the investigation from the start. Three former colleagues of the complainant in the case, herself a former journalist with Tehelka who has said she was sexually assaulted by Tejpal in the elevator of a five-star hotel in Goa on November 7 and NOvember 8 during a conference-fetsivalin Goa, recorded their statements before a magistrate on Friday.