Akali leader Sucha Singh Langah surrenders

Senior Akali leader and former minister Sucha Singh Langah surrendered before a magistrate here on Monday, after evading arrest for three days in a rape case that has put the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP alliance in a spot ahead of the Gurdaspur bypoll.

Langah, who was booked on Friday at Gurdaspur on a complaint by a woman constable of the Punjab Police, chose to surrender in the court in Chandigarh instead of Gurdaspur.

The victim claimed that she had been sexually exploited and raped by Langah since 2009. The woman, a widow, said she was a classmate of Langah’s daughter in college.

The former minister was accompanied by his lawyer and some associates when he arrived at the court complex here to surrender.

Since it was holiday, the surrender was recorded before the duty magistrate.

“Everyone knows that the case is being filed with an eye on Gurdaspur elections,” Langah told reporters, adding: “It’s a pure case of political vendetta.”

The Congress, Aam Aadmi Party and the Akali-BJP alliance are locked in a triangular contest for the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat for which polling is on October 11.

Langah, who was a Shiromani Akali Dal core committee member and president of the Gurdaspur district unit of the party, on Friday announced his resignation from all party posts and from the membership of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee.