Police station turns fortress to receive accused

CHANDIGARH: Sector 26 police station was turned into a fortress on Wednesday. Two DSPs, Pawan Kumar and Satish Kumar, four inspectors and around 80 personnel were present to receive the

accused in Varnika Kundu stalking case

,

Vikas Barala and Ashish Kumar

, who were asked to arrive at 11am.

At the main gate of the police station, Congress workers were protesting against the police and the BJP. Later in the day, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) workers joined them.

In the morning, the police went to the house of Vikas Barala in Sector 7, Chandigarh, to issue summons for joining the investigation. Nobody was there to receive them, so the police returned after pasting them outside his house. The summons clearly asked Barala to join investigation and reach the Sector 26 police station at 11am. Police had planned to raid the houses of Barala if he failed to join the investigation. But cops heaved a sigh of relief when his father said Vikas would reach by 1pm. More force was requisi tioned and the police station was cordoned.Cops made a human chain from the main gate to the entrance of the station so that no mediaperson could take pictures or protesters could harm the accused.Since 1.30pm, cops without umbrellas and raincoats stood in heavy rain to receive the VIP accused, Barala and his friend.

The accused reached at 2.30pm amid sloganeering by Congress and AAP protesters, who blocked their SUV. Cops had to resort to mild lathi charge to stop them.

Mediapersons

tried to click pictures, but the police covered faces of the accused and quickly took them inside. After five minutes, SSP Eish Singhal reached the police station and with the two DSPs started interrogation, which lasted till 5.30pm.

Later in the evening, the police again tried to hide the accused from the lensmen while taking them for medical examination at GMH-16. Mediapersons in large numbers gathered outside the hospital. Police locked the accused in a hospital room and deployed personnel outside.

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