The Chandigarh police on Monday was left red-faced when it emerged that CCTV cameras installed at at least seven locations were found non-functional after the police was asked to collect evidence against Vikas Barala, son of Haryana BJP chief Subhash Barala, and his friend Ashish Kumar. Vikas and Ashish had allegedly stalked and attempted to kidnap a woman, the daughter of a senior IAS officer, who was travelling back home in her car. She was allegedly followed for six kilometers around midnight on August 4 near sector 26, and the duo kept obstructing her path, repeatedly attempting to make her stop. DSP (traffic) Rajeev Ambasta, who supervises the functioning of CCTV cameras said, "The CCTV cameras are unable to record movements of vehicles since August 1. There is technical fault in the cameras and the responsible company was asked to fix it." Meanwhile, a meeting involving SSP Eish Singhal, DSP Satish Kumar and DSP traffic Rajeev Ambasta was held at Sector 26 police station. SSP Singhal refused to make any comment and maintained that media queries will be answered only at the appropriate time. According to the medical examination report, both the accused were under the influence of alcohol. Police said that the victim was in her car when she observed that two men in a white Safari were chasing her and she made a call to the Police Control Room at 12.35 am. The Safari was intercepted at Housing Board Light point by a PCR van and the duo were arrested. They were later released on bail.
