AAP MLA Pathanmajra’s anticipatory bail plea in rape case rejected by Patiala court

There was no respite for Sanaur MLA Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra as a court in Patiala today rejected his anticipatory bail plea. Earlier in September, his anticipatory plea was rejected, and he had approached the court again. The ruling party MLA has been on the run since September 2, when he dodged a Patiala police team and fled from the house of his relative in Karnal moments after a Punjab Police team arrived to arrest him.

Pathanmajra’s counsel said that their client will now move to the Punjab and Haryana High Court for anticipatory bail. They had revised the plea and approached the Patiala court after their plea for anticipatory bail was rejected last month.

The Patiala police had registered a case against Pathanmajra, a first-time MLA, at the Civil Lines police station on September 1 on charges of rape, cheating, and criminal intimidation. The case was registered based on a complaint by a Zirakpur-based woman.

On September 3, a day after his daring escape from the Patiala police custody, the Punjab Government deputed the Punjab Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) to arrest AAP MLA from Sanaur, Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra. AGTF has conducted many special operations against gangsters, eliminating or arresting them.

The developments come almost 24 hours after high drama prevailed in Karnal’s Dabri village, where AAP MLA Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra evaded arrest by the Punjab Police in a case of rape and cheating lodged against him in Patiala. While the police claimed Pathanmajra fired and escaped, the MLA claimed that he “only hoodwinked the Patiala cops” and that “no shots were fired”.

Later, in social media posts and video messages, Pathanmajra said that he escaped from police custody fearing an encounter for “taking on the Delhi AAP lobby”. In addition to the Patiala police team, teams from AGTF and Counter-Intelligence are on the prowl to arrest the MLA. Sources say that raids have been conducted in Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and even Madhya Pradesh, in addition to Delhi, Haryana, and Punjab, but there is no trace of him.