Lack of coordination between the police of two districts as well as alleged lack of initiative by the police headquarters led rape accused Sucha Singh Langah go scot-free yesterday.
Former SAD minister Langah appeared before a Duty Magistrate and mediapersons yesterday, making his whereabouts known, but the Punjab Police failed to act in time to arrest him. It has been more than 72 hours since he was booked by the Gurdaspur police for allegedly raping a police constable.
Inquiries made by The Tribune have brought out that officials in Gurdaspur, Mohali and police headquarters knew about Langah’s whereabouts, especially when he appeared on TV channels.
HS Bhullar, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Gurdaspur, said his team had learnt about the former minister’s suspected movement in Chandigarh and its vicinity and informed the Mohali police.
“It takes minimum three-and-a-half hours to reach Chandigarh from Gurdaspur. As soon as we learnt about Langah’s possible location, we despatched a team immediately and informed the Mohali police,” he said.
Mohali SSP Kuldeep Singh Chahal said, “We received the information late. And by then, it was too late as the accused had slipped away.”
The police headquarters was closed on Monday on account of Gandhi Jayanti. Even if it would have been open, it wouldn’t have been made much of a difference as the headquarters doesn’t have a team to make such arrests, sources said.
The Crime Branch or Vigilance Bureau also operates through police stations dedicated to them in Mohali.
