Former SAD minister Sucha Singh Langah
Former SAD minister Sucha Singh Langah, on the run since September 29 when the police booked him in a rape case, finally surrendered in a court here today, taking the police by surprise.
The police made arrangements to take him into custody the moment he was sighted in Gurdaspur. But Langah again dodged the police and managed to reach the district court complex.
Accompanied by his lawyers, Langah walked into the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Mohit Bansal at 2.15pm.
The judge sent him to a five-day police remand. The public prosecutor had instead sought a 10-day remand, claiming that “some important recoveries were to be made from him”.
His lawyers submitted it was a “politically coloured case” and that their “client was being falsely implicated”.
Senior Superintendent of Police HS Bhullar, who was at his home, immediately drove to his office after being informed that Langah had surrendered. He hurriedly convened a meeting of senior officers and discussed the repercussions of his surrender.
“We submitted a surrender application, which was accepted by the court after my client submitted himself to the process of the law. The public prosecutor sought a 10-day police remand. The judge, however, sent him to five-day custody,” Langah’s lawyer said.
After his surrender, Langah was taken to the Civil Hospital for the mandatory medical examination. He will be lodged in Gurdaspur City police station, where an FIR has been registered against him under Section 376 of the IPC.
Meanwhile, 150 members of the Satkar Committee protested inside the court complex. They raised slogans against Langah and chased after the police gypsy, in which he was being taken to the Civil Hospital.