Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra, an AAP MLA, has been apprehended after a months-long search following his escape from police custody in connection with a rape case, marking a significant development in the ongoing legal proceedings.
Key Points
- AAP MLA Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra was arrested in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, months after escaping police custody in a rape case.
- The rape case against Pathanmajra involves allegations of misrepresentation, sexual exploitation, and threats made by a Zirakpur-based woman.
- Pathanmajra had been declared a proclaimed offender after failing to appear in court and had previously claimed the case was a 'political conspiracy'.
- Punjab Police teams, including the Anti-Gangster Task Force, conducted raids across multiple states to apprehend the fugitive MLA.
AAP MLA Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra was arrested by the Punjab Police from Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior, more than six months after he escaped police custody in a rape case.
Officials on Wednesday said that Pathanmajra, the first-time MLA from Sanour in Patiala, was nabbed from the outskirts of the Gwalior area late Tuesday night.
He was brought back to Patiala, Senior Superintendent of Police (Patiala) Varun Sharma said.
Amid tight security arrangements, Pathanmajra was presented before a court here, which sent him to a four-day police remand.
Details of the Rape Allegations
On September 1, 2025, police registered a case against Pathanmajra at the Civil Lines police station here on the charges of rape, cheating and criminal intimidation.
The case was registered based on a complaint by a Zirakpur-based woman, who alleged that the MLA misrepresented himself as a divorcee, entered into a relationship with her and later married in 2021 while already being married.
She accused him of continued sexual exploitation, threats and sending "obscene" material to her.
Speaking to reporters in Patiala, the SSP shared that Pathanmajra was nabbed by police teams comprising Superintendent of Police Vaibhav Chaudhary, SP Gurbans Bains and other police officials.
Police arrested Pathanmajra based on technical inputs and human intelligence, he further said.
MLA Declared a Proclaimed Offender
The AAP MLA had been declared a proclaimed offender after he failed to appear in this case. Patiala police had even issued a look-out notice against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA.
Pathanmajra had been on the run since September 2 in the rape case. He escaped police custody when the Punjab police went to Haryana's Karnal to arrest him.
Police had then claimed that gunshots were fired and stones were hurled by the legislator's supporters after a police team went to arrest him in Dabri village in Karnal district, where he was at the residence of one of his relatives.
However, Pathanmajra had denied police claims of being involved in firing at cops and said he fled after learning that he would be killed in a "fake encounter".
Pathanmajra's Claims of Conspiracy
After he escaped police custody, Pathanmajra, in late November, appeared in a video interview with an Australia-based web Punjabi channel in which he claimed that he would "return home only after securing bail".
Denying all allegations, he had then termed the case a "political conspiracy", aimed at silencing voices that speak for Punjab's people.
He had even targeted the AAP's Delhi leadership, alleging that ministers and MLAs were not consulted over key matters.
In another video, Pathanmajra had alleged that he was being targeted for speaking out against Delhi-based AAP leaders and for holding an IAS officer responsible for last year's floods.
The Punjab Police had formed several teams from its different wings, including the Anti-Gangster Task Force, to nab Pathanmajra. Police teams had earlier conducted raids at several places, including Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi, to apprehend him.
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