Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra
Credit: Facebook/@HarmeetSinghPathanmajra
Patiala: AAP MLA Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra on Tuesday escaped custody amid gunshots and stone pelting by his supporters after his arrest in a rape case, police said.
Pathanmajra was in Dabri village in Haryana's Karnal district, where a police team had gone to arrest him.
"We conducted a raid at Pathanmajra's residence in Haryana. He was arrested. But a group of villagers and some mischievous elements pelted stones at the police team and fired gunshots," the in-charge of Patiala Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) said.
The Sanour MLA used the cover fire and stone pelting to escape, he said.
Balwinder Singh, an accomplice of the MLA, was arrested with three weapons in his possession, the officer said. A Toyota Fortuner was also seized.
According to an FIR filed in the matter, Pathanmajra was booked on charges of rape, cheating, and criminal intimidation.
Pathanmajra said so also in a video message on Facebook earlier in the day.
The case was registered on a complaint by a Zirakpur-based woman, who alleged that the MLA misrepresented himself as divorced, entered into a relationship with her, and later married in 2021 while still being married.
She accused him of continued sexual exploitation, threats, and sending "obscene" material to her.
After the FIR, Pathanmajra went live on Facebook, strongly criticising the Punjab government and alleging that Delhi-based AAP leadership was "illegitimately ruling over Punjab."
He appealed to fellow party MLAs to stand with him, alleging that during the Congress or BJP governments, the central leadership did not interfere in state affairs the way the AAP did.
"They can lodge FIRs against me, I can stay in jail, but my voice cannot be suppressed," the lawmaker said in the video message.
On Sunday, Pathanmajra accused a senior IAS officer of failing to take such necessary actions as desilting and clean-up of rivers, particularly the Tangri River, despite his requests.
He said the government should listen to people, or they "will thrash us."
Pathanmajra also alleged the party was trying to suppress Punjab MLAs instead of fixing the administration.
He said he raised the issue in the Punjab Assembly several times, submitted deputations, and personally met Principal Secretary (Water Resources) Krishan Kumar many times, but "not a single meaningful step was taken."
Meanwhile, AAP leader Baltej Singh Pannu said Pathanmajra started speaking against the IAS officer and raising the flood issue after he learnt that the police could take action against him on the woman's complaint.
Addressing the media in Chandigarh, Pannu said the woman, in her complaint, alleged that for the past some time, Pathanmajra had been forcing her to resume their relationship.
In the last week of August, she said she would complain to the police about the overture, said Pannu.
He said that after the woman's threat, Pathanmajra tried to contact some senior leaders of the party.
"As party leader, Arvind Kejriwal, speaks about triple 'C' and one of the 'C' is 'character', the party does not support people in such matters irrespective of the position they hold," he said.
When the MLA learnt that police could take action against him, he started raising the flood issue to divert attention, Pannu said.
The MLA knew that the woman had lodged a police complaint, alleging that he claimed to have her private videos and pictures, which he threatened to upload online if she went to the police, the party leader said.
On Tuesday, after the MLA was not found in his village, police went to Haryana to arrest him, but he escaped, Pannu said.
He said the party is yet to decide on the action to be taken against him.
Defending the IAS officer, Pannu said it was Kumar whose efforts brought irrigation water to the tail ends of villages, which had not happened in 45 years.
On Sunday, as several villages in his constituency were flooded, Pathanmajra lashed out at bureaucrats, telling reporters he had been demanding the clean-up of the Tangri and permission to use soil near the river to strengthen the banks, but to no avail.
He also urged Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to remove Kumar from his post.
On Monday, Pathanmajra claimed that his security had been withdrawn and that all station house officers and police post heads in his constituency had been transferred.
"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.