Former Akali minister Sucha Singh Langah, on the run after a rape case was registered against him, today surrendered before a court here which remanded him in five-day police custody.
Langah had been on the run even as the Punjab Police had been conducting raids to trace him.
"The court today sent him (Langah) to five-day police remand after he surrendered before it," Gurdaspur Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Harcharan Singh Bhullar said.
A lookout notice was also issued against the former minister in order to trace him.
"Investigating officers will now probe the rape charges registered against him," the SSP said.
The Punjab Police had been facing flak for not being able to nab him after the case was registered and also when he came to the Chandigarh district court to file an application for surrender on October 2.
Langah was booked by the police on the night of September 28 after a woman gave a complaint that the Akali leader had allegedly been raping her repeatedly since 2009.
The police had booked Langah under sections 376 (rape), 384 (extortion), 420 (cheating) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.
The victim, a widow of a Punjab vigilance official, had also given a video clip in a pen drive to the police to support her accusations.
Yesterday he had moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court, seeking an anticipatory bail.
On October 2, the Chandigarh district court had rejected the application of Langah for surrender in connection with the rape case registered against him by the Gurdaspur police.
Langah had dubbed the rape case lodged against him as "false" and accused a Congress MLA of getting him booked.
He had also termed the complaint as a "classic example of political vendetta".
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) had accepted the resignation of party core committee member Langah from all posts.
He had also resigned from the membership of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC).
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)