2 months on, MLA Pathanmajra continues to evade arrest

Despite over a 100 policemen from various wings of the state police on his prowl, AAP MLA Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra continues to evade arrest for the past two months.

Booked in a rape case, the ruling party MLA dodged a Patiala police team and fled the house of his relative in Karnal moments after the policemen arrived to arrest him on September 2.

The Patiala police had registered a case against him 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 Pathanmajra. The AGTF has conducted several special operations against gangsters, eliminating or arresting them.

However, even after raids in Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi and other places, there is no trace of the first-time AAP MLA, who has switched off his phone and is “totally off the radar”. His anticipatory plea was rejected by a court in Patiala. The Patiala police earlier arrested 11 aides of Pathanmajra for ‘harbouring’ him but got no trace of him.

In social media posts, video messages and an online interview with some private channels, Pathanmajra said he escaped from the police custody fearing an encounter for “taking on the Delhi AAP lobby”. While the police claimed Pathanmajra fired and escaped, the MLA claimed that he “only hoodwinked the Patiala cops” and that “no shots were fired”.

“I have ample evidence and proofs with me which I will bring in the public domain and also the court,” he had said in the recent interview from an undisclosed location.

A CCTV footage later released by Pathanmajra’s camp almost a fortnight back, whose authenticity The Tribune cannot verify, shows how a police team trespasses into a house from jumping above the entry gate and walls. Another footage shows that Pathanmajra escaped in a SUV while a police constable is almost ready to fire a shot at the vehicle.

A senior police officer privy to the investigation and developments into the case claimed that they have carried out multiple raids but the MLA is nowhere to be found. “We are keeping a close watch on his associates and he will be arrested soon”, he stated.