Chandigarh stalking case: Accused Vikas Barala, Ashish Kumar sent to two-day police custody

Haryana BJP chief Subhash Barala's son Vikas and friend Ashish Kumar, who had been arrested on Wednesday and charged with the attempted abduction of 29-year-old-Varnika Kundu, were sent to a two-day police custody, media reports said.The duo was produced before a magistrate court on Wednesday afternoon after hours of interrogation.Police sought remand of the two accused from the court, saying it wanted to reconstruct the crime scene.Civil judge Barjinder Pal Singh remanded the two accused to police custody till 12 August.The defence submitted before the court that the case is based merely on apprehension of kidnapping, which has been built under pressure.The defence counsel submitted that media trial was going on in the case, further pointing out that no recoveries were to be made from the two accused.India Today reported that the accused denied that the allegations of having chased, stalked or trying to kidnap Varnika.[caption id="attachment_3904351" align="alignleft" width="380"]

File image of Vikas Barala. News18[/caption]Contradicting their earlier statements, the accused also denied having known her, the report added. PTI reported that Vikas and Kumar were re-arrested on Wednesday after they were charged with a non-bailable offence of attempted abduction under section 365 of the IPC and section 511. It relates to an attempt to commit an offence punishable with life or other imprisonments.DGP Tejinder Luthria had said on Wednesday, "There are many things from the crime scene that we need to clarify and hence we would request the court to allow us to take Luthria into police custody. We also need to reconstruct the route they took," Luthria said.They had earlier been arrested on 5th August 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 stalking incident — and their release — triggered a nation-wide outrage and a spate of protests.The two accused on Wednesday joined the police investigation at the sector 26 police station, where they were grilled and later arrested.With inputs from PTI