Chandigarh, September, 2: Sanour AAP MLA Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra, 50, narrowly evaded arrest early Tuesday morning when a Punjab Police team reached the Karnal home of his relative, Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (HSGMC) member Gurnam Singh Laadi, to take him into custody in a rape case.
The police action came a day after Pathanmajra’s security cover was withdrawn, following his public criticism of the Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party government over inadequate flood management in Punjab. On Sunday, the MLA had accused Punjab water resources principal secretary Krishan Kumar of misleading the chief minister and failing to ensure timely desiltation of rivers, including the Ghaggar and Tangri, which he said worsened flooding in his constituency.
Sources said the MLA, who had been staying at Laadi’s Dabri village residence since Monday, scaled the boundary wall with the assistance of local residents, slipping away before the police could reach him. Haryana Police confirmed that his current whereabouts remain unknown.
“I am prepared to face consequences for speaking the truth against the government and Krishan Kumar, who is responsible for the severe floods Punjab is witnessing,” Pathanmajra told reporters in a Facebook live session before fleeing.
During the live session, he announced that the arrest was linked to an old rape complaint. He urged fellow legislators to oppose “interference by the Delhi high command in Punjab’s affairs” and called on supporters to protest at the Patiala district police chief’s office. “This is the price I pay for speaking up for Punjab. They cannot silence me with false cases. Come what may, I will continue to raise my voice for the state,” he said.
The fresh FIR, registered at 11 pm on Monday, cites Sections 376, 420, and 506 of the Indian Penal Code. It stems from a 2022 complaint by a Zirakpur resident alleging that Pathanmajra married her in August 2021 without divorcing his first wife. She claimed he misled her by asserting that his divorce was finalized before the wedding.
Pathanmajra becomes the fourth AAP MLA in Punjab to face police or Vigilance Bureau scrutiny in recent years. Former health minister and Mansa MLA Vijay Singla was arrested for corruption in May 2022, while Bathinda Rural MLA Amit Rattan Kotfatta faced a VB corruption case on February 23, 2023. More recently, Jalandhar Central MLA Raman Arora was arrested on May 24 in a corruption probe involving a municipal official.
