Amritsar: An AAP MLA from Sanaur in Punjab, who was arrested on charges of rape on Tuesday, fled from custody after allegedly firing on policemen. Harmeet Pathanmajra and his aides also ran over a policeman while escaping in two vehicles – a Scorpio and a Fortuner, officials claimed.
According to the police, Pathanmajra was arrested in Karnal in the morning. As he was being taken to the local police station, Pathanmajra and his aides opened fire at the police team. When a cop tried to stop them, they ran him over and fled in two SUVs. Police later managed to intercept the Fortuner, but the MLA was in the other vehicle and is still on the run. Police teams are chasing him. At least three firearms have been seized from the Fortuner.
Pathanmajra faces charges of rape, cheating, and criminal intimidation. The FIR was registered after a woman complained that the MLA lied that he was divorced and started a relationship with her. She has accused him of sexual exploitation, threats, and sending obscene material.
The FIR states that the 45-year-old complainant is divorced and has a daughter who stays abroad. She started a relationship with Pathanmajra, who told her he was divorced, around 2013. In 2021, the two married at a gurdwara in Ludhiana. But in 2022, when Pathanmajra contested the state polls from Sanaur, she found he had named his first wife in his affidavit. The MLA, she said, pressured her and kept saying that he would divorce his first wife.
The MLA had earlier criticised his party’s government over the flood situation in Punjab. After the FIR was filed against him, he went live on Facebook and doubled down on his criticism of the Bhagwant Mann government in Punjab. He alleged that the AAP leadership in Delhi was “illegitimately ruling over Punjab” and sought the support of fellow party MLAs. “They can lodge FIRs against me, I can stay in jail, but my voice cannot be suppressed,” he said.
Pathanmajra had also claimed that his security was withdrawn after he criticised his party’s government.
“I had already told my gunmen yesterday that they would be sent back. The Delhi leaders (of AAP) think they can scare me with vigilance (action) or FIRs, but I will never bow down. I will stand like a rock with my people,” he said. Earlier, Pathanmajra had said the state government should listen to people, or they “will thrash us”.
