Punjab: Despite the surveillance of over 100 police officers from various branches of the state police, AAP MLA Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra has been evading arrest for the past two months. The ruling party MLA, accused in a rape case, evaded a team of Patiala police and escaped from his relative’s house in Karnal on September 2nd, shortly after the police arrived to arrest him. Patiala police had registered a case against him at the Civil Lines police station on September 1st on charges of rape, fraud, and criminal intimidation based on a complaint from a woman from Zirakpur. On September 3rd, a day after his daring escape from Patiala police custody, the Punjab government deployed the Punjab Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) to arrest Pathanmajra. The AGTF has conducted several special operations against gangsters, either killing or arresting them. However, despite raids in Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, and elsewhere, no trace of the first-time AAP MLA has been found. He has switched off his phone and is “completely off the radar.” A Patiala court rejected his anticipatory bail plea. Patiala police had previously arrested 11 of Pathanmajra’s associates for allegedly “harbouring” him, but no trace of them has been found. In social media posts, video messages, and online interviews with some private channels, Pathanmajra said he escaped from police custody fearing an encounter to “confront the Delhi AAP lobby.” The police claimed that Pathanmajra fired shots and escaped, while the MLA claimed that he “only dodged the Patiala police” and that “no shots were fired.”
In a recent interview from an undisclosed location, he said, “I have sufficient evidence and proof which I will present publicly and in court.” CCTV footage released by Pathanmajra’s camp about two weeks ago, the authenticity of which The Tribune cannot confirm, shows a police team breaking into a house by scaling the entrance gate and walls. Another footage shows Pathanmajra fleeing in an SUV, with a police constable about to fire at the vehicle. A senior police officer involved in the investigation and developments in the case claimed that they had conducted several raids, but the MLA was nowhere to be found. “We are keeping a close watch on his associates and they will be arrested soon,” he said.
Punjab: Two months later, Pathanmajra MLA evades arrest
