Rape-accused Punjab AAP MLA held in MP after 7 months on run

Patiala/Bhopal: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra, who was on the run for nearly seven months after being accused of rape, was arrested from Shivpuri in Madhya Pradesh late Tuesday night, Patiala SSP Varun Sharma said on Wednesday.A Patiala court remanded him in police custody for four days. Police had sought 10 days' remand to recover his mobile devices and investigate the logistical support he received while evading capture across multiple states and countries, including reported stays in Australia and Nepal.MP cops were in the dark about the Punjab Police operation. Range IG Arvind Saxena said the arrest was carried out on Gwalior–Shivpuri national highway and no assistance was sought from local police. Shivpuri SP Aman Singh Rathore also confirmed that no prior intimation was received.According to Punjab police, they were tracking a UK number that Pathanmajra was believed to be using, and were alerted when it pinged on a hotel Wi-Fi on Tuesday. The arrest was made by a joint police team after a search operation that deployed dozens of personnel across multiple wings of the force, including Punjab Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) and Counter-Intelligence, spanning at least seven states.Pathanmajra is the second AAP MLA to be arrested within 48 hours, following the arrest of former minister Laljit Singh Bhullar on Monday for allegedly abetting the suicide of a Punjab govt official. Chief minister Bhagwan Mann had said after Bhullar's arrest that ‘the law is the same for mantri and santri' and the AAP-run Punjab govt wouldn't spare any accused.The FIR against Pathanmajra — a first-term MLA representing Sanaur constituency in Patiala — was registered on Sept 1, 2025, following a complaint by a Zirakpur-based woman. She alleged that the MLA had misrepresented himself as a divorced man, entered into a relationship with her, and performed a Gurdwara marriage in 2021, while remaining legally married to another woman. She also alleged that he sexually exploited her, threatened her and transmitted obscene material. Patiala police registered the FIR under charges of rape, cheating and criminal intimidation.Punjab govt immediately withdrew his police security. On Sept 2, a Punjab Police team tracked him to the residence of a relative in Karnal (Haryana) but the attempt to arrest him led to a showdown. Police said shots were fired at them to aid the MLA's escape. Pathanmajra denied any shooting and said he had "only hoodwinked the Patiala cops", and that he fled because he feared a staged encounter.Police teams went after him and conducted raids in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh, but Pathanmajra evaded arrest for months. During the period he remained absconding, he continued to engage with media through video messages, claiming innocence and saying he was being targeted for "taking on the Delhi lobby".A Patiala court rejected his anticipatory bail pleas twice and in Dec 2025 declared Pathanmajra a proclaimed person. He approached Punjab and Haryana high court seeking quashing of the arrest warrants and proclamation proceedings, but got no relief.Pathanmajra's case came as an embarrassment to AAP in Punjab, where the party swept to office in 2022 on the platform of clean, no-corruption governance. Pathanmajra framed his prolonged flight as a consequence of intra-party disputes and govt pressure, a claim denied by both Punjab Police and AAP leadership.The search for him picked up pace this past week. According to sources, investigators learnt that he had returned to India from Australia for a Supreme Court hearing.Police placed a suspected mobile number under surveillance, and a team set off to nab him. Realtime location inputs led the cops to a highway in Shivpuri, where he was intercepted after a two-day operation. Two associates travelling with him were also detained.All four of them were brought to Patiala (700km from Shivpuri) and produced before judicial magistrate-first class HS Gill who granted Patiala Police Pathanmajra's custody for four days and the other accused for three days.Police said they intended to question them to uncover the network that helped the MLA evade a Lookout Circular (LOC) and professional surveillance for over six months. Patiala Police, led by SSP Sharma, will map the MLA's movement from his initial escape in Karnal to Shivpuri and identify those who helped him.The MLA's counsel Simranjit Singh Saggu said hearing of his pleass for bail and against the PO proceedings is scheduled for March 27 in Supreme Court.MSID:: 129792918 413 |