Varnika Kundu, an IAS officer’s daughter, was allegedly chased by Vikas Barala, son of Haryana BJP Chief, and his friend Ashish Kumar, for over seven kilometres on Friday night. Varnika was rescued by a PCR van that intercepted the two men in their car. After she drove back to her home, she and her father went to the police station to file their complaint. Varnika has also accused the duo of attempting to abduct her. On Monday, police confirmed that CCTV footage shows the victim being chased by the accused (indianexpress.com)
Haryana BJP chief Subhash Barala said on Wednesday his son Vikas Barala, who is one of the two accused in the Chandigarh stalking case, would cooperate in the investigation. “We respect the law. Vikas has cooperated in the probe earlier as well,” he told media. The reaction came after Chandigarh police issued summons to the accused Vikas and his friend Ashish Kumar to join the investigation. (indianexpress.com)
Vikas has been arrested earlier, on the night of the incident, but was granted bail in just a few hours.
According to NDTV, the police had issued new summons after investigating team obtained the CCTV footage of his car chasing Varnika’s car on Friday night. A police notice to join investigations was pasted outside his home when no one accepted it, the report added. (outlookindia.com)
Meanwhile, there have also been reports of attempts to intimidate the father of the victim on the night of the incident. On the night of August 4, as he waited with his daughter at the Sector 26 police station in Chandigarh for the FIR to be registered, IAS officer Virender Kundu had reportedly received several calls from Haryana BJP chief Subhash Barala. “I don’t have his number on my phone, but I knew it was him through Truecaller (app). I did not take any of his calls because I knew what he was going to say,” Kundu said on Tuesday.
Saying that he was prepared for repercussions on his career, he said, “Till the time the BJP is in power, they will not forget. This action by me will be taken as an act against the party… I have told my daughters to be careful when they go out… Someone could even slip a drug packet into their purse just to trap them.”(indianexpress.com)
The Hindustan Times had also reported that when the city police got conducted medical examination of Vikas and Ashish two hours prior to registration of the first FIR on August 5, the duo refused to give blood and urine samples. No medical examination was conducted after registration of the case, the report added. (outlookindia.com)
DGP Tejinder Singh Luthra said Vikas (23) refused to receive the notice so, the police pasted it outside his house. Addressing a press conference this morning, the said CCTV footage from different places of the Friday night incident indicated that the accused were chasing the girl. The DGP said Vikas and his friend Ashish Kumar (27), who were earlier arrested and granted bail, had refused to give blood and urine samples for medical examination which could go against them during prosecution. (newindianexpress.com)
DGP Tajender Singh Luthra told The Indian Express: “The notice was also issued to Ashish Kumar, friend of Vikas, and he accepted the notice and agreed to join the police probe.” (indianexpress.com)