Aam Aadmi Party MLA Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra on Wednesday denied any involvement in a firing at police personnel who had come to arrest him in Haryana on Tuesday.
Pathanmajra, who has been booked in a rape case, is currently on the run after evading arrest in Haryana's Karnal district. When the Punjab police attempted to arrest the Sanaur MLA from the house of a relative, Panthanmajra fled from the spot.
In a video message from hiding, Pathanmajra claimed that he had feared an encounter with the police, alleging that he had fled after being informed that authorities would try to kill him in a “fake encounter”.
The AAP MLA said that he had not “confronted the police”, alleging that when the police attempted to fire at him, he escaped from another route. “I survived only by God's grace,” he said.
However, Pathanmajra asserted his respect for the police, while claiming that they had been acting on the directions of the Delhi leaders.
The AAP MLA, taking a veiled jibe at the central leadership of his party, accused a “Delhi lobby” of targeting him, while alleging that “outside forces” were attempting to “destablise the state”. He further urged his fellow Punjab ministers and legislators to unite against these “forces”.
Pathanmajra also said that 400-500 personnel, including at least 8 superintendents of police (SPs), several deputy SPs and station house officers (SHOs), had been deployed for his arrest.
{{/usCountry}}Pathanmajra also said that 400-500 personnel, including at least 8 superintendents of police (SPs), several deputy SPs and station house officers (SHOs), had been deployed for his arrest.
{{/usCountry}}Efforts are underway to arrest Pathanmajra, with a team of the Anti-Gangster Task Force and other police personnel team trying to trace him, PTI quoted sources as saying.
The police had traced Pathanmajra to Haryana Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee (HSGMC) member Gurnam Singh Laddi’s house at Dabri village in Karnal early on Tuesday.
“We had arrested Pathanmajra when villagers and some miscreants started pelting stones and opened fire at the police team,” Patiala crime investigation agency (CIA) in-charge Pradeep Bajwa said, adding that the AAP MLA had fled, taking advantage of the commotion.
(With PTI inputs)