Ferozepur: Rape accused bizman surrenders before police after evading arrest for 4 years
The accused, Varinder Pal Singh alias VP Singh alias VP Handa, had been booked in a rape case on October 10, 2020, at the Kulgarhi police station in Ferozepur.
Within a week of the Punjab and Haryana high court directing the Punjab director general of police (DGP) and home secretary to appear in court on February 11 if a Ferozepur businessman charged with rape continues to remain at large, the accused surrendered before the police on Thursday.
The accused, Varinder Pal Singh alias VP Singh alias VP Handa, had been on the run for four years.
He was booked under Section 376 (rape), 511 (crimes punishable with imprisonment), 354 (outraging modesty), 304-A (physical contact and advances involving unwelcome and explicit sexual overtures) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 67A (publishing or transmitting of material containing the sexually explicit act) of the Information Technology Act, on October 10, 2020, at the Kulgarhi police station after the intervention of the Punjab state women commission.
His anticipatory bail plea was dismissed by the sessions court on October 28, then by the high court on November 12, 2020, and the Supreme Court on February 5, 2021. The accused was declared a proclaimed offender on March 24, 2022, by a Ferozepur court.
The order was quashed by the additional district and sessions court, Ferozepur, on November 15, 2022, after he promised to surrender. He was directed to join the investigation. However, he chose not to surrender and was again declared a proclaimed offender.
He sought a second round of litigation for securing bail, but the plea was withdrawn on January 13, 2023, from the high court.
The HC on January 30 this year sought personal appearance of DGP and the state’s home secretary in court if the accused continues to evade arrest.
After he surrendered on Thursday, the accused was presented before the court of judicial magistrate first class Amandeep Kaur Rathore.
Police sought seven days’ remand while Varinder’s advocates Manoj Bajaj and Mehar Singh Mal pleaded that no remand is required as it is only a case of procuring his presence for joining the proceedings.
But the court sent him to one-day police remand.