Booked in rape case, Former Akali minister Langah on the run

Former Punjab minister Sucha Singh Langah, who has been booked on the charge of rape, continued to be on the run even as police teams conducted raids to find him, officials said today.
Langah was booked by police on the night of September 28 following a woman's complaint alleging that the Akali leader had raped her repeatedly since 2009.
"We are conducting raids wherever we have information about his possible hideouts," Gurdaspur SSP Harcharan Singh Bhullar said today.
Police have booked Langah under sections 376 (rape), 384 (extortion), 420 (cheating) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The victim had provided a video clip in a pen drive to the police to support her accusations.
Langah had termed the complaint as a "classic example of political vendetta perpetuated at the most political opportune moment when the by-election to the Gurdaspur Parliamentary constituency is under way."

In his statement, Langah had said that he would surrender before court on September 30. However, the former minister did not turn up before the court yesterday.
Meanwhile, a purported video went viral on the social media allegedly showing Langah in a compromising position.
Following this, both the AAP and Congress attacked the Shiromani Akali Dal, asking party chief Sukhbir Badal to clarify his stand on the issue.

"The video of Sucha Singh Langah which has come out is shameful. Langah has been a Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) member. SAD chief Sukhbir Badal should clarify his stand on this issue," demanded state minister Charanjit Singh Channi.
AAP's Punjab unit chief Bhagwant Mann said the SAD was once known for making sacrifices and now one of their leaders had been found to be on the wrong side of the law. SGPC should also take note of the alleged act, demanded Mann.
The SAD had already accepted Langah's resignation from all party posts. Langah was Punjab's minister for agriculture from 2007 to 2012.