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Punjab: Accused of rape, AAP MLA Pathanmajra flees to Australia, leaves cops red-faced
Sanaur MLA Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra appears in an interview with an Australia-based Punjabi web channel, says he won’t return until relief is granted by judiciary
Facing a rape case, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra, who has been evading arrest for over two months, is learnt to have fled to Australia, leaving the Punjab Police and the state government red-faced.
Pathanmajra, 50, who represents the Sanaur assembly constituency, appeared in a TV interview with an Australia-based Punjabi web channel, confirming his escape. During the interview, he claimed that he would return to India only after getting relief from court. “I am in Australia. I will come to my constituency only after getting bail. Currently, I am not in touch with any political party,” he said, claiming that the rape case against him was false and a result of his fallout from AAP’s Delhi leadership over flood “mismanagement”.
Patiala police officials, however, stated that a look-out circular had been issued against the MLA. “It appears that he might have escaped to a neighbouring country before flying to Australia. We have initiated proceedings to declare him a proclaimed offender (PO),” said a senior police officer, seeking anonymity.
A look-out circular is a preventive measure that stops individuals wanted by the police from leaving the country to evade arrest or investigation.
A local court in Patiala has already initiated proclaimed offender proceedings against Pathanmajra after he repeatedly failed to appear before the police in connection with a rape case. A proclamation notice issued by the court of judicial magistrate (first class) Harjot Singh Gill, under Section 82 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), has been pasted outside Pathanmajra’s residence. The notice directs him to appear before the court by November 12, failing which further legal action might be taken. The magistrate observed that Pathanmajra has absconded or is concealing himself to evade arrest, prompting the issuance of the proclamation notice under Section 82 CrPC, which allows courts to declare an accused as a proclaimed offender if they fail to appear despite warrants.
On September 1, a Zirakpur-based woman lodged a complaint at the Civil Lines police station, accusing him of rape, cheating and criminal intimidation. Sections 376 (rape), 420 (cheating) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) were slapped on him. On September 2, Pathanmajra had fled from the house of his relative Gurnam Singh Laddi — a Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (HSGMC) member — in Karnal, moments before a Punjab Police team arrived to arrest him.
Following his disappearance, the police had also deputed the Anti-Gangster Task Force to trace and arrest him, but to no avail.
