Chandigarh stalking case: Haryana BJP chief's son held again; police press abduction charge

Haryana BJP chief Subhash Barala's son Vikas and co-accused Ashish Kumar were arrested on Wednesday on charges of trying to abduct a 29-year-old-woman, the daughter of an IAS officer, the police said.

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 also been pressed against the two, a senior official said.

The accused will be produced before a court on Thursday, he added.

This is the second time that Vikas and his friend Kumar have been arrested in the stalking case, which has triggered a nation-wide 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.

We had summoned both the accused and they were questioned for nearly three hours on Wednesday during which many things came to the fore, Chandigarh DGP Tejinder Singh Luthra told reporters.

"We have decided that against both the accused we are going to press fresh charges; one is attempt to abduct, which will have two sections - 365 and 511. We have also decided to put both the accused under arrest," he said.

The maximum punishment for the offence under the charge applied today is upto seven years' imprisonment.

Asked about the reason behind adding the fresh charge, the DGP explained that in the last four days, the police had recorded the statements of witnesses and also examined CCTV footage.

"We reconstructed the scene of crime. We have also reconstructed the route of the chase and from there, many new facts, new evidences have emerged," Luthra claimed.

The two accused will now be produced before a court on Thursday and the police will seek their custody, he said.

"Because in this investigation, there are many things for which we require their custody...We will confront them with facts and the scene of crime, which was the route of the chase. It will be reconstructed along with the accused. Many facts will be confirmed in that process," he said.

Varnika Kundu, the woman who had lodged the complaint termed the arrests on Wednesday as a "great development".

Thanking everyone for their overwhelming support, she said "if we continue this movement, cases like these will get a lot rarer".