Haryana stalking: Police arrest Vikas Barala, friend on kidnapping charges

Chandigarh: Chandigarh police on Wednesday arrested Haryana BJP Chief's son Vikas Barala and his friend Ashish Kumar for stalking 29-year-old woman Varnika Kundu last week.

Addressing the media, DGP Chandigarh said the duo has been arrested on charges of attempt to abduction and IPC 365 and 511 have been filed against them.

Vikas and Ashish will be produced in court on Thursday.

DGP Chandigarh said a lot of details were unearthed during the interrogation.
The DGP also said that there was no political pressure on them and that they were doing everything professionally and objectively.

Vikas Barala was asked to present himself at the police station, after he failed to appear for 11:00 am summons on Wednesday.

Security was tightened outside the police station since morning.

The Chandigarh Police had earlier on Wednesday asked Vikas to appear before the Station House Officer (SHO) of Sector-26 Police Station at 11 am 'sharp'. But the state BJP chief son appeared almost after three hours.

Police and media battled rain and waited for Vikas to arrive for questioning in the stalking case.   

The Chandigarh Police on Wednesday said it has sufficient evidence to establish that the accused, Vikas and his friend, stalked and chased Varnika Kundu in Chandigarh late on Friday night. Varnika had also alleged that Vikas tried to open her car door.

“Additional evidence is welcome but we now have sufficient CCTV footage,” ANI quoted Chandigarh DGP Tejinder Luthra as saying.

Meanwhile, addressing a press conference, Haryana BJP Chief Subhash Barala said, "The moment we learnt about the notice, Vikas headed for Chandigarh. He will cooperate fully with the police."

Vikas and his friend Ashish Kumar were arrested on August 5 on charges of stalking and harassing IAS officer's daughter Varnika Kundu in Chandigarh. They were, however, granted bail on the same day.

A case was registered by the Chandigarh Police against Vikas and other youth under under Section 354 D (stalking) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 185 (Motor Vehicle Act) of the CRPC on the basis of complaint filed by the woman.

After being mute for over three days, Subhash Barala finally broke his silence on the matter on Tuesday. Addressing media, Subhash said Varnika "is like his daughter" and assured action against his son.