Rape-accused Punjab AAP MLA escapes after gunshots allegedly fired at police

Aam Aadmi Party MLA Harmit Singh Pathanmajra on Tuesday escaped a Punjab Police team that had travelled to Haryana’s Karnal to arrest him in a rape case, reported The Indian Express.

“We conducted a raid at Pathanmajra’s residence in Haryana,” PTI quoted the in-charge of the Patiala Crime Investigation Agency as saying. “He was arrested. But a group of villagers and some mischievous elements pelted stones at the police team and fired gunshots.”

Pathanmajra escaped amid the commotion, said the officer, adding that one of his accomplices, Balwinder Singh, was arrested and three weapons were seized from his possession. A vehicle was also seized by the police.

A police officer was also injured, The Indian Express quoted an unidentified official as saying.

This came hours after the MLA criticised the Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab and Krishan Kumar, the principal secretary of Water Resources, for failing to desilt and clean rivers. His statement had come against the backdrop of large-scale flooding in the state.

On Monday, the Sanour MLA claimed that his security cover of 12 personnel was withdrawn and the station house officers in his constituency were replaced after his statements.

Later in the day, a woman who claimed that she had married Pathanmajra in 2021 filed a police complaint alleging that the MLA had raped her from...

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