Above: (Left) Former Punjab minister and senior Akali leader Sucha Singh Langah

Once declared a Bad Character, Akali leader Sucha Singh Langah is in the dock for raping and sexually exploiting a woman. It waits to be seen if he will be excommunicated by the Akal Takht

~By Vipin Pubby in Chandigarh

No stranger to controversies, former Punjab minister and senior Akali leader Sucha Singh Langah may finally be facing his nemesis. Accused of raping a classmate of his daughter, and sexually exploiting her for over two years, Langah is set to be excommunicated from the community by the Akal Takht, the highest temporal authority of the Sikhs.

Langah, who has an unenviable criminal track record, remained in the good books of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leaders, particularly the Badals, mainly due to his political clout in parts of Majha region.

In fact, the party has gone to the extent of saying that the current rape case was “timed” with the by-election in Gurdaspur Lok Sabha constituency and that it was a “political conspiracy”.

Langah, meanwhile, has surrendered at a Gurdaspur court on October 4 after which he was sent into police remand for 5 days.

DEATH THREAT

The facts on record, however, tell a different story. An FIR lodged by the 39-year-old victim, who had got a job as a police constable on compassionate grounds after the death of her husband, said that the 61-year-old politician had been sexually exploiting her for eight years under the threat of death. She said that she had met him for help shortly after the death of her husband to seek a government job. Langah subsequently got her the job but extracted his pound of flesh by exploiting her.

The victim said that she was afraid that the police would not believe her, particularly during the ten-year rule of SAD in coalition with the BJP. To prove her allegations, she also handed over a 20-minute video of Langah sexually exploiting her.

A case under Sections 376 (rape), 384 (extortion), 420 (fraud) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Panel Code has been registered against Langah at the Gurdaspur City Police Station.

As per the FIR, the victim’s nightmare began in 2009 when she first met the accused to seek his help. He called her a couple of days later and forced himself on her. “I begged the minister to spare me. I even tried reminding him that I was his daughter’s classmate and, therefore, like a daughter to him. But he wouldn’t listen. He told me that having sexual relations with him was the only way I could get a government job,” she said and added that she had to succumb as she had to take care of two children. Besides, he constantly threatened her and told her he had “goondas” at his beck and call.

He also sold a plot of land she owned for Rs 30 lakh on the promise that he would buy her a flat in Chandigarh. However, he again cheated her and gave her only Rs 4.5 lakh.

DUBIOUS PAST

Once declared a Bad Character (BD) with his photograph pasted in  various thanas, Langah has had a chequered career. He was declared as such during the days of militancy and it is believed that he was actively associated with underground organisations. He is related to an ideologue for Sikh militants, Khalistan Commando Force chief Wassan Singh Zafarwal, and had subsequently helped in his extradition for a safe passage to India. Due to his being categorised as a BD, he was denied a passport in 1992 and his name was put in the list of “Prior Approval List” for issuance of passport.

“I begged the minister to spare me. I even tried reminding him that I was his daughter’s classmate. But he wouldn’t listen.”

                                                                                                                                      —The victim

He didn’t stop even at that. After becoming a minister in 1997, he applied for a passport the next year with false and forged documents. After he was caught and denied a passport, the Airport Authority of India included his name in “Risk for Flight” list.

His name figured in the list of “history sheeters” from 1972 to 2002, a little before the Badal government lost the mandate in the assembly elections that year.

Over the years, he has accumulated huge wealth and real estate, including large tracts of land and farm houses close to the India-Pakistan border. His name was linked to the dismissed SP Salwinder Singh, who was probed for his role in the Pathankot Air Force Station last year. It was said that Salwinder had been visiting his farm houses.

DA CASE

These are not the only activities he was involved in. He was convicted and sentenced in a disproportionate assets (DA) case but the verdict was stayed by higher courts and he was out on bail.

Langah remained in the good books of the Shiromani Akali Dal leaders, particularly the Badals, mainly due to his political clout in parts of Majha region

He was sentenced to three years of imprisonment and the court also imposed a fine of Rs 1.1 crore on him in the DA case. He was booked and arrested by the vigilance bureau in 2002 during the then Congress rule in the state.

As recent as August 20, he was booked for trespass and rioting after he allegedly entered into an argument with members of Chhota Ghalughara Gurdwara and Kahnuwan Chhamb Management Committee and tried to forcefully enter the gurdwara to take over its control.

Still, the SAD shielded him as he is known to exercise influence in certain areas of the state. The party issued a statement after Langah was booked and said the “premeditated case was a classic example of political vendetta”.

However, with irrefutable evidence in the form of the video and the statement of the victim, Langah is headed for a long stint in jail. Sensing his imminent prosecution, the Akal Takht is likely to excommunicate him for violating Sikh tenets. Langah has already resigned from the SGPC and all party posts.

Clearly, his murky past has caught up with him.