Chandigarh: In a fresh development in the Chandigarh stalking case, Haryana BJP chief’s son Vikas Barala, who is the main accused, has been arrested by the Chandigarh Police. Vikas surrendered before the police on Wednesday afternoon after being summoned amid heavy security. He was arrested along with his friend after questioning. The police have slapped kidnapping charges against both the accused.
“We called both the accused for interrogation. It was a lengthy interrogation. A number of things have come to fore in today’s interrogation. Thus we have decided to press two charges – attempt to abduction (365/511). We have also decided to arrest both the accused. Both shall be produced in the court tomorrow. We shall request the court for their police custody. There are a 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 investigations. I have shared the conclusion of our investigations done so far,” said DGP TS Luthra.
Luthra also added that there has been no political pressure on the police. “We have no political pressure. We are doing our bit professionally, objectively and legally. The new charges are based on many facts. We have new pieces of evidence in form of CCTVs footage, statements of witnesses and of course legal opinion also. In last four days, we have constructed many things and the investigation has come to a stage from where v r taking it forward,” added Luthra.
Police had summoned Vikas Barala, 23, early Wednesday, asking him to appear by 11 am but he reached the Sector 26 police station in a white SUV at around 2:30 pm along with the other accused- Ashish Kumar. The two accused were earlier arrested after a 29-year-old woman accused them of chasing her car on Friday but were granted bail. “Both accused are with us and we are interrogating them,” UT Chandigarh DGP Tejinder Singh Luthra told news agency PTI.
Vikas Barala reached the police station shortly after his father, Haryana BJP president Subhash Barala told reporters that, “He (Vikas) will cooperate with the police investigation”.
Earlier Wednesday, DGP Luthra said Vikas refused to receive the notice so the police opted to paste the notice outside his house. Addressing a press conference, DGP Luthra said the CCTV footage from different places indicated that the accused were chasing the girl. “Our investigations are at critical stage and we are taking it to the next level,” DGP was quoted as saying. The DGP added that Vikas and his friend Ashish Kumar (27) had refused to give blood and urine samples for medical examination which could go against them during prosecution.
DGP Luthra further stressed that the Police will do “everything under the sun” to ensure the 29-year-old complainant gets justice.
(Agencies)
