Tejpal trial: Court asks cops to seek expert opinion on CCTV footage

Panaji: The local court which would be conducting the trial of journalist Tarun Tejpal in the rape case against him today asked police to seek help of experts for providing CCTV footage of the crime scene to the defence. The Fast Track Court Judge Vijaya Pol scheduled the next hearing for 16 April after passing the order. [caption id=“attachment_1476723” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Tarun Tejpal. AFP[/caption] Tejpal’s lawyer D Dhond today said he wanted the CCTV footage of the area around the lift, where the alleged crime took place at a five-star hotel here on 7 November last year, from 7 to 29 November. Public Prosecutor Francis Tavora contended that footage for this entire period would not be relevant, and it could not be copied and stored on a pen-drive. But advocate Dhond said he needed it to establish that Goa Police were hiding the facts. The judge then asked Investigating Officer Sunita Sawant to take the help of information technology experts in this regard. The judge also said if the entire footage cannot be stored on a pen drive, it can be viewed by both the parties in the presence of a court officer. Tejpal has asked for a copy of the charge-sheet and the CCTV footage on which the Crime Branch is relying. His lawyer had said that the copy of the chargesheet provided to him did not match with the original one. A woman journalist, Tejpal’s junior, has accused him of sexual assault at the hotel. PTI