4 arrested also filmed other women at store
The Goa police said that the four people arrested for allegedly filming Union human resources minister Smriti Irani in the trial room of a Fabindia store at Candolim had also filmed several other women customers at the upmarket apparel outlet. Cops said they suspect the quartet to have installed the camera ever since the store opened three months ago. The four were granted bail on Saturday.
Fabindia came out with a statement denying that it had placed hidden cameras in any of its stores, including the Candolim outlet which Ms Irani visited on Friday.
In a related development, store manager Chaitrali Sawanthas moved a Goa court for anticipatory bail. The manager, who is not traceable, filed the application through her lawyer.
According to Goa crime branch SP Kartik Kashyap, they viewed the DVR recorder, which also showed several other women being captured changing clothes. He, however, refused to specify the exact number. “We have sealed the recorder and sent it to the forensic science laboratory for further examination,” he said.
The incident took place on Friday afternoon when the minister went to the store to buy some clothes and spotted the camera. The Goa cops swung into action and arrested four people on the grounds that they had knowledge of the camera’s presence.
The Goa cops swung into action and arrested Paresh Bhagat ( 26), Raju Payanche ( 24), Prashant Naik ( 20) and Karim Lakhani ( 24) on the grounds that the four had knowledge of the camera’s presence at an apparel market. They were charged under Sections 354 C ( voyeurism), 509 ( intrusion of privacy) of the IPC and Section 66 ( capturing, recording images of a person’s private area) of the IT Act.
In its statement, Fabindia said, “There were no hidden cameras anywhere in the store, including the trial rooms,” even as it expressed apologies to Ms Irani “for the inconvenience that has been inadvertently caused ( to her)”. It held the camera in question at the Candolim store was part of the surveillance system and was installed in the shopping area. “There were no hidden cameras anywhere in the store including the trial rooms. These cameras are in full public view and the fact surveillance cameras are installed is prominently displayed in all the stores,” the statement said.