Son of Haryana BJP chief arrested for ‘stalking’ IAS officer’s daughter

I will be failing in my duty as a father...if I did not stand with her completely in this matter... I feel compelled to take this matter to its logical conclusion. As would be expected, the goons are from influential families. We all know most such cases of harassment go unpunished. We know it’s not going to be an easy struggle

The Chandigarh police has arrested two persons, including the son of Haryana BJP chief Subhash Barala, for allegedly stalking the daughter of a senior IAS officer.

Vikas Barala, 23, and his friend Ashish Kumar, 27, were arrested from the Housing Board light point late on Friday night. They were later released on bail.

While Vikas is a law student at a college in Kurukshetra, Ashish is a law graduate. The SUV is registered in the name of Jaideep, a relative of Barala, police said.

The girl, a DJ, was driving from Sector 9, Chandigarh, towards Panchkula at 12.35am, when the two followed her in their Tata Safari Storm (HR-23G1008) from the Sector 26 Grain Market area. Both were drunk, she alleged, adding the SUV pulled up close to her car several times and even tried to block her way, forcing her to change routes. At one point, the SUV blocked her way and the person in the co-driver’s seat got down and began moving towards her vehicle. She reversed but they continued to follow her. She said she then dialled 100 and gave the details of the car and her location.

“We have registered a case under Sections 354-D (stalking) of the IPC and 185 of the Motor Vehicle Act (drunk driving),” said Satish Kumar, DSP east. A medical examination of the two confirmed they were drunk, the DSP said, adding that Section 341 (wrongful restraint) was added to the FIR.

Barala is BJP MLA from Tohana in Fatehabad. Jawahar Yadav, chairman, Haryana Housing Board, read out his statement to the media. “Let the police hold a fair investigation so that truth can come out,” it said.