4 DU studnets chasing Smriti Irani's car freed on bail

The four Delhi University students who were arrested for chasing and overtaking Union Minster Smriti Irani's car here on Saturday evening were released on bail here on Sunday, the police said.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police R.P. Meena told IANS that the four students -- identified as Anand Sharma, Avinash, Shitanshu and Kunal -- were released from police custody in the morning.

"The students were kept in custody at Chanakyapuri police station after being arrested. They were thoroughly interrogated there and were released after furnishing bail bonds," the officer said.

The police said that three of the students are residents of Uttar Pradesh's Pratapgarh, Kannauj and Shahjahanpur while the fourth is from Rajasthan's Dausa.

"They are pursuing Bachelor of Science course from a college in Delhi University's South Campus," another police official said.

The students, all in their early 20s, were arrested on Saturday evening on charges of stalking, intending to insult the modesty of a woman and common intent under the Indian Penal Code.

Irani's security staff complained to the Police Control Room (PCR) at around 5 p.m. on Saturday about the four students chasing her car and trying to overtake her pilot car on the Shantipath in the diplomatic enclave of Chanakyapuri.

The minister's security staff then stopped the students' speeding Santro car after chasing it near the French Embassy, when it tried to overtake Irani's pilot car repeatedly.

The students were then handed over to the staff of a PCR van and the local police later took over the case for investigation and found all four were "under the influence of alcohol".

--IANS

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