AAP’s Sanaur MLA Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra, already in jail in connection with a rape case, was on Monday arrested in connection with another (mining) case when he was produced in a Patiala court. Police, however, did not seek his remand in the mining case.
The court subsequently extended his judicial custody in the rape case by 14 days and ordered that he be sent to the Patiala Central Jail. It has been learned that the accused’s counsel made the request for the arrest in the mining case because the Patiala police had last week sought a production warrant to arrest Pathanmajra in that case, citing the need to search for a poclain machine used in “illegal mining”.
Earlier Pathanmajra’s counsel expressed apprehension during the hearing that the police initially sought a production warrant sheerly to re-arrest him in case he (accused) gets bail in the rape case. Officials familiar with the development said the police initially denied arresting him because his bail plea in the rape case was rejected by the Patiala additional district court and sessions judge on Monday.
The mining case was registered under Section 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Sections 21(1) and 4(1) of the Mines and Minerals Act by the Julkan police on September 5 days after he narrowly escaped arrest on September 2 from the residence of his relative, Gurnam Singh Laddi, a member of the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (HSGMC), at Dabri village in Karnal district. Pathanmajra fled the premises minutes before a Punjab Police raid.
{{/usCountry}}The mining case was registered under Section 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Sections 21(1) and 4(1) of the Mines and Minerals Act by the Julkan police on September 5 days after he narrowly escaped arrest on September 2 from the residence of his relative, Gurnam Singh Laddi, a member of the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (HSGMC), at Dabri village in Karnal district. Pathanmajra fled the premises minutes before a Punjab Police raid.
{{/usCountry}}Pathanmajra, 50, a first-time legislator from the Sanaur constituency of Patiala district, was arrested on March 24 from the outskirts of Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh. He was brought to Patiala early on March 25.
Patiala superintendent of police (SP) Gurbans Bains said the AAP MLA was officially arrested after he surrendered in the court in the mining case. “We did not seek police remand in the illegal mining case as we will take remand later,” Bains said outside the court premises.
Pathanmajra was booked after a Zirakpur-based woman accused of rape, cheating and intimidatiion. She alleged that he misrepresented himself as a divorcee and married her in 2021.
Despite court orders, shifted to Bathinda jail from Patiala
Though the Patiala court ordered the transfer of rape accused AAP MLA Pathanmajra from the Bathinda Central Jail to the Patiala prison, but he was again taken to the Bathinda jail after he had barely spent a 15 minutes in Patiala Central jail. Jail officials confirmed that he had been sent to Bathinda but refused to comment on the reason.
Advocate Simranjit Singh Saggu, counsel for Pathanmajra, said, “We moved an application seeking reasons for his transfer to Bathinda. We requested that he be shifted back to Patiala as both cases are being heard there. Moreover, several A-listed gangsters are lodged in Bathinda jail. The court ordered his transfer to Patiala, but he has again been sent back to Bathinda.”
A few days ago, the court had issued a notice to the Patiala police and jail authorities, seeking an explanation for transferring him from Patiala to Bathinda jail, he added.