Mobile firm rectifies Varnika’s location

CHANDIGARH: Terming its previous report a “human error”, a mobile phone company, in a supplementary challan filed in a local court today, rectified Varnika Kundu’s location on the day of the stalking, involving Vikas Barala, son of Haryana BJP chief Subhash Barala.

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 11

Terming its previous report a “human error”, a mobile phone company, in a supplementary challan filed in a local court today, rectified Varnika Kundu’s location on the day of the stalking, involving Vikas Barala, son of Haryana BJP chief Subhash Barala.

Though her call records submitted previously in the court showed that she was in Chamkaur Sahib, Ropar, on that day, the mobile company has now called it a human error and rectified the location.

The GPS report submitted in the court shows her mobile tower location near the Municipal Corporation waterworks building in Sector 4, Chandigarh.

The chargesheet also has a statement of her restaurateur friend in Manali, Anubhav Gurung, with whom she was on a call all this while. He confirmed in his statement that after talking to him, she dialled ‘100’ and called him up again after that.

However, the urine and blood sample reports submitted in the court by the CFSL today show that Barala and his accomplice Ashish Kumar were not intoxicated. The supplementary chargesheet was submitted in the court of Varun Nagpal, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, under Sections 354-D (stalking), 341 (wrongful restraint) and 365 (abduction attempt) read with 511 (attempt to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or other imprisonment), IPC.

Varnika (29), a disc jockey, was allegedly stalked on city roads by Barala and his friend Ashish on August 5, 2017. Vikas and Ashish, both law students, were charged with stalking and attempting to abduct Varnika. The suspects are now out on bail.

In a complaint to the police, Varnika had alleged that the suspects followed her car in their Tata Safari from Sector 7 in Chandigarh to the Housing Board light point.

She had alleged that the suspects tapped on her car’s windowpane and even tried to open the door of her car. She had already called the police, who reached there just in time and apprehended the suspects, who were allegedly drunk. Vikas was granted bail on January 11 last year, while Ashish was released on bail a week later on January 18.