Chandigarh stalking case: Vikas Barala arrested, charged with abduction, says DGP Tejinder Luthria

Following the arrest of Vikas Barala, key accused in Chandigarh stalking case, and his friend Ashish Kumar, director general of police Tejinder Luthria conducted a press conference on Wednesday, and said the police has pressed two new charges against Barala — under sections 365 and 511 (Attempt to abduct with intent to wrongful confinement) of the Indian Penal Code. The arrested accused will be produced in a court on Thursday. Luthria said they will request the court to grant the accused police custody.

Detailed interrogation of both (Ashish and Vikas) took place; two charges to be pressed against them: DGP Chandigarh #ChandigarhStalking pic.twitter.com/Qtv2C8dSkE

— ANI (@ANI) August 9, 2017

“There are many things from the crime scene that we need to clarify and hence we would request the court to allow us to take Luthria into police custody. We also need to reconstruct the route they took,” Luthria said. [caption id=“attachment_3904351” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Vikas Barala. Courtesy: News18[/caption] However, he refused to divulge any additional information, saying this could hamper the investigation. Luthria added that they are under no political pressure and whatever they are doing is professional and independent of any influence from any party. “We have new pieces of evidence , CCTV footage and map of the route and we are taking the investigation forward,“Luthria added. On Wednesday morning, Luthria confirmed that the police have sufficient evidence to investigate the case and that the accused are expected to show up at the police station as asked. The DGP had told CNN-News18, “I am a positive man. I hope for the best. If they do not come, the next logical step of the investigation shall be taken.” In a report to the Union home ministry, the Chandigarh Police conveyed the charges against the two accused, a home ministry official said. The report said after the 29-year-old woman lodged a complaint of alleged stalking by Vikash and Ashish, police detained them and called a doctor immediately for a medical test. However, the two accused refused to undergo blood or urine test. The doctor later gave a report saying he smelled the breath of the accused which indicated alcohol. Denial of Vikas and his friend to undergo blood and urine test is likely to be held against them during the trial, the official said. As per law no person can be compelled to undergo alcohol tests. The accused allegedly exploited this ground. On 4 August, 29-year-old  Varnika , daughter of an IAS officer, called up the police complaining that two men were chasing her in a car along a stretch in Chandigarh. Both Vikas and his friend Ashish Kumar were arrested on Saturday but were released on bail within the next few hours. The police booked the two on bailable charges: Section 354 D (Stalking) of IPC, 185 of the Motor Vehicle Act (Driving under influence), Section 341 (Wrongful restraint). Chandigarh Police received a lot of flak for going easy on the political leader’s son and now they are taking additional measures to prove otherwise.