Chandigarh stalking case: Haryana BJP's son Barala to appear in court today

On August 5, Vikas Barala was arrested for stalking, harassing IAS officer's daughter in Chandigarh

After massive outrage on streets and in the Parliament, the accused in the Chandigarh stalking case, Vikas Barala and his friend Ashish Kumar, will appear before a Chandigarh court on Thursday.

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 imprisonments, had also been pressed against the two.

On August 5, Vikas Barala, son of Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Haryana unit President Subhash Barala, was arrested on the charges of stalking and harassing an IAS officer's daughter in Chandigarh. He was, however, granted bail on the same day.

Subhash Barala, however, rebuffed the claim of pressurising or influencing the police in the case.

Vikas and Ashish Kumar appeared in Chandigarh Sector 26 Police Station yesterday.

Director General of Police Chandigarh Tajender Singh Luthra had said that Haryana BJP chief Subhash Barala's son Vikas and his friend Ashish were slapped with charges of abduction.

The notice was issued to both the accused under 160 Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and the case has been filed against Barala under Section 354D (stalking), 341 (wrongful restraint), 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 185 MV Act (rash driving).

The high profile case had brought again the issue of women's safety on centre-stage and also put the Haryana BJP in an uncomfortable position with opposition attacking it over the incident.