Investigations into the alleged stalking of an IAS officer's daughter by two persons, including the Haryana BJP chief's son, in Chandigarh on Friday night received a boost as the police claimed to have retrieved footage from five of the seven CCTV cameras installed along the route. The Chandigarh police will hold a press conference on Tuesday to give further details.
Vikas Barala, son of Haryana BJP President Subhash Barala, and his friend Ashish had been arrested soon after the incident but were out on bail hours later. While the BJP ruled out Barala's resignation, his deputy Ramveer Bhatti also made a shocking statement on Monday, questioning why the 29-year-old woman was "allowed to stay out late".
Earlier in the day, the police had said that most cameras on the route and elsewhere in the city were defunct. Traffic SSP Shashank Anand had admitted, "The annual maintenance contract of cameras expired in July, so many are out of operation... even the license key of the server which has the database has also expired."
SSP Eish Singhal had however said, "There are several CCTV cameras installed on that route, which we have identified. We are in the process of collecting the footage, since technical analysis is underway".
The officer also said that the case was being investigating with an "open mind" and more sections could be "added at a later stage" if required. The police is yet to add the charge of kidnapping, an offence that does not allow bail.
The SSP said, "We are not doing anything under pressure. We are a professional investigating agency and we are doing our job. We have re-constructed the entire crime scene and mapped the route."
Meanwhile, woman IPS officer Jagdale Nilambari Vijay would take charge as new Chandigarh SSP from Singhal who had been officiating since December last year. Jagdale is currently posted as SSP Ropar.
The complainant said she was disappointed. "We had faith in the system. But we still have hope, since the investigation is still on."
The CCTV fiasco prompted the Congress to step up its tirade against the BJP. Alleging that the Union Home Ministry, which controls the UT administration and police, is conspiring to hush up the case, senior Congress leader Randeep Surjewala said, "How is it possible that all CCTV cameras stopped functioning suddenly? Even before you have registered a case under correct sections, the CCTV footage is gone."
Meanwhile, BJP leader Anurag Thakur condemned the incident said men must learn to respect women and their individual space. "Instead of questioning the girl why she was out at 12.30 am, we must question those individuals and their mindset that leads to such harassment," he tweeted.
The incident took place around midnight on Friday when the woman was returning home after picking up her car after repair from Sector 7.
The accused, driving a white Tata Safari, blocked her car twice, and one of them even got down and tried to forcibly open her car's window, she has alleged.
"The first time I tried to turn right and get away from them, they blocked my path. They followed me from Sector 7 to Housing Board Chowk for about 20-25 minutes," the woman has alleged.
"They were recklessly endangering my life. I called the police, minutes after they began following me. When I saw a PCR, I sped away home and told my father who accompanied me to the police station."
Victim’s reply
“It is none of his business (in response to BJP leader’s ‘why was she out late question’), it is my business and my family’s what I do...If it wasn’t for men like these, I wouldn’t be unsafe going out... ” she said.
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