Chandigarh stalking case: Vikas Barala tells cops he chased Varnika Kundu's car

Vikas Barala, the son of Haryana BJP chief Subhash Barala, has confessed to chasing the car of Varnika Kundu, according to an NDTV report. Vikas and his friend Ashish Kumar, who were arrested on charges of trying to abduct Kundu, the 29-year-old-daughter of an IAS officer,  will be produced before a local Chandigarh court  Thursday. [caption id=“attachment_3904351” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Vikas Barala. Courtesy: News18[/caption] The police, after interrogating Vikas for nearly three hours, said it had both CCTV footage and eyewitnesses, according to the NDTV report. On Monday, Chandigarh Police said that there was no CCTV footage of the incident. Deputy Superintendent of Police had said that they attempted to obtain footage from nine CCTV cameras along the route, from Sector 7 to Housing Board traffic light point, the five-kilometre stretch where Varnika was reportedly chased, but all were found to be “non-functional”. However, on Tuesday, following the flak from the victim and her family, the police confirmed that it retrieved CCTV footage of the incident. “The Chandigarh Police have retrieved footage of five CCTV cameras on the route, capturing the chase of victim’s vehicle by the alleged vehicle of the accused,” a Chandigarh Police officer was quoted as saying by  Hindustan Times. The non-bailable charge of attempting to abduct under Section 365 of the IPC and Section 511, which relates to attempt to commit an offence punishable with life or other imprisonment, had been pressed against Vikas and his friend. This is the second time that Vikas and his friend Kumar have been arrested in the stalking case, which has triggered nationwide outrage and a spate of protests. The two were earlier arrested on Saturday following the woman’s complaint but released on bail as they had been booked under bailable sections of the IPC and the Motor Vehicles Act. The victim, Varnika, had alerted the police on Friday night that two youth were chasing her along a five-kilometre stretch. She said that the two men followed her in their SUV pulled up the vehicle close to her car several times and even tried to block her way. The victim’s father, a senior Haryana IAS officer who had taken to  social media  to urge people to fight crime against women, said he had full faith in the system and was grateful to Chandigarh Police for “saving” his daughter’s life. On Monday, however, he said that his family would  move court  if the charges against the accused were diluted. With inputs from PTI.