Accused Vikas Barala and Ashish being taken for medical from Sector 26 police station (Express Photo)
The main accused in the Chandigarh stalking case, Vikas Barala, the son of Haryana BJP chief Subhash Barala, was on Wednesday arrested by the Chandigarh police after questioning. After being summoned in the case, Vikas appeared before the police in the afternoon amid tight security. Vikas is accused of stalking and attempting to abduct a senior IAS officer’s daughter, Varnika Kundu. Addressing a press conference minutes before his son reached the police station, Subhash told reporters that police should take appropriate action against Vikas if he is named in the FIR.
“If my son is named in this FIR, then the law should take its course. I say that the police should take appropriate action,” he said. After speaking to the press for a few minutes, he left the conference to speak to his son.
Chandigarh stalking case Live updates here:
Police vehicle carrying Vikas Barala entering the police station. (Source: Express photo by Sahil)
6:15 pm: Accused Vikas Barala and Ashish being taken for medical from Sector 26 police station
5:16 pm: DGP TS Luthra’s press conference begins. “We called both the accused for imterrogation. It was a lengthy interrogation. A number of things have come to fore in today’s interrogation. Both were arrested under the section of attempt to abduction (IPC 365/511).
“We have also decided to arrest both the accused. Both shall be produced in the court tomorrow. We shall request court for their police custody. There are number of things for which we need the accused to reconstruct the scene of crime to verify many facts. I can’t share many things that are part of investogations. I have shared the conclusion of our investigations done so far,” said Luthra.
4:05 pm: Chandigarh DGP Tajender Singh Luthra tells ANI “accused Vikas Barala’s friend Ashish also being interrogated”.
3:45 pm: Chandigarh police arrest Vikas Barala after minutes of questioning. He had appeared before the police after being summoned in the stalking case.
3.30 pm: The father of a Chandigarh-based woman, who has filed a police complaint against the Haryana BJP chief’s son for allegedly stalking her, today said there “was no instance yet” of any pressure from the family of the accused.
The woman’s father, who is an IAs officer, expressed hope that they would get justice even as he said it was going to be a “protracted battle”.
“The struggle is going to be not of just these few days, though these few days are going to be critical from the point of view of investigation,” he told media persons here.
3:15 pm: Both the boy and the girl should be listened to; Justice will be done, said Kirron Kher, Chandigarh BJP MP
3.00 pm: While addressing the press, Subhash had said he had summoned his son, Vikas, to Chandigarh on learning that he had been summoned by the police in relation to the case.
2.50 pm: Addressing the press, Subhash Barala says Varnika is like a daughter to him. He adds that the police investigation into allegations against his son have not been influenced. “If my son is named in this FIR, then the law should take its course. I say that the police should take appropriate action,” he tells reporters.
