AGTF tasked to arrest Pathanmajra; Punjab govt faces flak over not been able to nab own MLA

Taking every effort to trace their own MLA, the Punjab government has deputed the Punjab Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) to arrest AAP MLA from Sanaur, Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra.

The AGTF has, in the past, 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 on Tuesday, as AAP MLA from Sanaur, Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra, evaded arrest by the Punjab Police in a case of rape and cheating lodged against him in Patiala on Monday on the complaint of a Zirakpur-based woman.

A team of policemen, specially trained to neutralise and who have arrested many ‘A’ category gangsters in and outside Punjab in the past, has been deputed to trace the missing MLA accused of rape.   Sources say that the Punjab deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Bikramjit Brar is heading the team and is camping in Haryana.

Brar is among personnel conferred with the President’s gallantry medal last year for showing exemplary courage in eliminating two killers of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala.

Brar led the team that followed both the killers involved in the murder. Gangsters Manpreet Singh, alias Mannu, and Jagroop Singh, alias Roopa, who were key accused in Moose Wala’s killing at Mansa on May 29, were hiding in Hoshiar Nagar village near the Attari border when DSP Brar’s team chased and killed them in the encounter.

He had earlier been part of the operation killing Vicky Gounder - another gangster.

Sources say that the AGTF team is trying to go through mobile locations and is also scrutinizing CCTV cameras along the route taken by the MLA when he escaped.

A senior police official said that by deputing the AGTF to trace Pathanmajra, the state government has taken a stern decision, stating that they “are taking the developments seriously and will leave no stone unturned to arrest the MLA”.

“We want to arrest him, and that’s it,” he said.   The police claimed Pathanmajra’s supporters and villagers allegedly fired gunshots and pelted them with stones, which allowed the MLA to escape. The action against Pathanmajra came days after he publicly criticised his own party’s government over its “mishandling of the flood relief efforts”.

He also accused a “Delhi lobby of interfering in Punjab’s internal affairs”. Pathanmajra was learned to be at the residence of his relative Gurnam Singh, alias Laadi, a member of the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (HSGMC), when the Patiala police team, including two SHOs and a CIA in-charge, came looking for him at 4:45 am. The police claimed they took the MLA into custody, but he managed to escape in the melee that erupted following the alleged firing and stone-pelting. The police recovered three weapons and an SUV.

Laadi’s family members and villagers, however, denied any firing and stone-pelting took place. They maintained the police personnel “stayed at the house till 8 am, had breakfast and even held discussions with Pathanmajra”.