After facing severe criticism over the probe into the alleged stalking of an IAS officer’s daughter in Chandigarh by Haryana BJP chief Subhash Barala’s son Vikas Barala, the Chandigarh police late on Monday night have said that they have obtained the CCTV footage that shows the “victim being chased by the accused”.
“We have procured footage establishing that the victim was being chased by accused in a Tata Safari. I cannot divulge the source of footage… these are either the police’s CCTV cameras or those privately installed,” said DGP Tejinder Singh Luthra.
The CCTV footage shows Varnika Kundu, the victim, driving on the road in a black car and the accused Vikas Barala can be seen chasing her in his black Tata Safari. The progress came hours after the police faced backlash earlier in the day after there were no CCTV footage of the occurrence.
Deputy superintendent of Police, Satish Kumar had said that they tried to obtain CCTV footage from nine CCTV cameras along the route. However, all were found to be “non-functional”.
In the meantime, the Centre has asked for a report of the incident from the Chandigarh administration after facing accusations by the opposition for “shielding” the state BJP chief’s son in the incident.
Vikas Barala and his accomplice Ashish followed the woman in their SUV from the Sector 7 area. Both were arrested from the Housing Board light early on Saturday following the complaint of the woman. The woman shared her traumatic experience in a Facebook post where she gave in details of how the duo tried to block her way and at one point even walked towards her vehicle after blocking the way.
The woman then called up the police control room and gave the plate number of the car, which led to their arrest. In her Facebook post, the girl also explained that she was extremely lucky to have escaped as the police patrolling party arrived just when the alleged criminals were attempting to kidnap her.
