Punjab AAP MLA Pathanmajra escapes police custody after firing at cops

Punjab AAP MLA Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra, arrested on charges of rape and cheating, escaped police custody in Karnal after allegedly opening fire at officers and running over a policeman with a vehicle. Police teams have launched a manhunt to track him down.

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Fortuner, firearms seized

Pathanmajra, the Aam Aadmi Party MLA from Sanour, had been arrested in Karnal on Tuesday (September 2) morning. As he was being taken to the local police station, Pathanmajra and his aides reportedly opened fire at the police team.

Amid the commotion, Pathanmajra allegedly drove a vehicle over a police officer, who tried to stop him, before fleeing in a Scorpio SUV. Another vehicle, a Fortuner used during the escape, has since been seized. At least three firearms have been seized from the Fortuner. The MLA is still on the run. Police teams are pursuing him.

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Charges of rape, cheating

Pathanmajra faces charges of rape, cheating, and criminal intimidation. He was arrested following an FIR filed by a Zirakpur woman.

She accused him of falsely claiming to be divorced before entering into a relationship with her. She alleged that he married her in 2021 while still married and accused him of sexual exploitation, threats, and sending obscene material.

According to the complaint, the woman, a 45-year-old divorcee who has a daughter who stays abroad, began her relationship with Pathanmajra in 2013 after he told her he was divorced.

In 2021, they got married at a gurdwara in Ludhiana, but in 2022, during the Punjab polls, when Pathanmajra contested from Sanaur, she discovered that Pathanmajra had listed his first wife in his election affidavit. The MLA, she said, pressured her and kept saying that he would divorce his first wife.

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MLA dismisses claims

Pathanmajra has dismissed the case as "politically motivated". After the FIR was registered, he went live on Facebook, criticising the Bhagwant Mann-led government and alleging that AAP’s Delhi leadership was “illegitimately ruling over Punjab.”

He sought the backing of other party MLAs, declaring, "They can lodge FIRs against me, I can stay in jail, but my voice cannot be suppressed." He further claimed his security was withdrawn as retaliation for his criticism of the government.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.

Pathanmajra has also clashed with his own government in the past. Recently, he accused senior officials of neglecting repeated demands to desilt rivers like the Tangri, which he said had worsened flooding in Patiala villages.

Earlier, he had warned that unless the government heeds public concerns, people "will thrash us."