14-day judicial custody for Vikas Barala, friend

CHANDIGARH: A local court on Saturday sent stalking case main accused Vikas Barala, the son of

Haryana BJP

chief Subhash Barala, and his friend Ashish Kumar in judicial custody for 14 days.

Both were produced in the court of duty magistrate Gaurav Datta amidst heavy security. Four station house officers (SHOs), two deputy superintendents of police (DSPs), eight to 10 sub-inspectors along with around 100 police constables were deployed on the court premises. Both the accused were produced in the court at 12.20pm.

The proceedings were over within 30 seconds with the judge ordering the remand of the two who had covered their faces with their hands. Both did not reply to mediapersons’ queries when they were being taken back from the court by the police.

The two were accused of chasing the 29-year-old daughter of an IAS officer in their SUV on the intervening night of August 4 and 5. The two were arrested but granted bail within a couple of hours after being charged under the milder Section 354 D (stalking) and drunken driving, triggering outrage on streets. The accused had then appeared before a court on Thursday. They were remanded in two-day police custody and charged with bid to kidnap the 29-year-old woman.

Surya Parkash, the defence counsel for the two accused, said that he could talk to the two for a few minutes. “Both told me that they were falsely implicated,” he said. He further said that the Barala family has told him to let the law take its own course.

The next date of hearing would be on August 25.


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