Jessica case: Rajput's diary contains Venod Sharma's numbers

The diary and mobile phone of Karan Rajput, one of the three prime witnesses in the Jessica Lal murder, contain the telephone numbers of Venod Sharma, father of the main accused Manu Sharma, a sting operation by Tehelka has claimed.

The tape of the undercover operation, aired by television channel Star News today, claimed that Karan had written in his diary the telephone numbers of Sharma's hotel and his official residence in Chandigarh, indicating that the witness was in touch with the accused.

The numbers were written against the name Sharma, it claimed.

Rajput, who died of liver problems in 2005, was present in Tamarind Court when the ramp model was shot dead on April 29, 1999. He had gone there to meet Jitender Raj, his nephew who worked as a manager at the restaurant.

In his initial statement, he had told police that he saw a man in white T-shirt firing at Jessica, but later turned hostile in court, turing the case on its head.

He had also identified the person as Manu Sharma when police confronted him with a photograph.

Tehelka and Star News had last week aired the first portion of the tape showing Rajput's friend Surender claiming that Venod Sharma once paid the medical bill of Rajput and used to give him Rs 20,000 every month.

Rajbir Singh, Rajput's landlord, was also caught on camera saying that Rajput had gone to Chandigarh and Manali and stayed at the Piccadilly hotel owned by Venod Sharma. He had also claimed that Sharma had paid Rs 30 lakh to Rajput to change his statement.