Tehelka case: Tarun Tejpal barred from leaving country, victim`s statement recorded

Zee Media Bureau New Delhi: Goa police on Tuesday issued an "immigration checkpost alert" against the former editor of Tehelka, Tarun Tejpal, barring him from leaving the country after a young journalist in the news magazine said that he sexually assaulted her in an elevator at a Goa resort. The alert issued at airports and ports restricts Tejpal from leaving the country. Reacting to the accusations, Tejpal today said that the charges being made against him were "politically motivated" and what transpired between him and the victim was nothing but "light-hearted banter." Tejpal further said that the victim was normal after the incident and even partied the whole night. He even accused Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar of taking undue interest in the case. Tejpal said that the allegations are being made at the behest of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as it is biased against him. Also Read: Goa police records victim`s statement, bars Tejpal from leaving country: As it happened Meanwhile, the Delhi court today refused to grant interim protection from arrest to Tejpal and deferred the hearing till Wednesday. Tejpal had moved court and filed anticipatory bail. Earlier today, a team of Goa police reached Mumbai and recorded the statement of the victim who may now travel to Goa to record her statement before the magistrate. The mother of the victim filed a complaint in Delhi against an immediate family member of Tejpal alleging "intimidation." On Saturday, the young journalist had said that she was being pressurised in the case. The matter came to light after the victim in her complaint to Chaudhury had said that Tejpal had sexually assaulted her twice in the elevator in a five star resort during the high-profile ThinkFest conference on November 7-8. The victim is daughter of a former colleague of Tejpal, who has recused himself from his post as editor after being accused of sexual assault by the victim.