Patiala: AAP MLA Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra remained on the run a day after he escaped police custody amid gunshots and stone pelting by his supporters following his arrest in a rape case.
Efforts are on to nab Pathanmajra, police sources said on Wednesday.
Pathanmajra, a first-time MLA, escaped from custody after a police team went to arrest him in Dabri village in Haryana’s Karnal district, where he was at the residence of one of his relatives.
Pardeep Bajwa, in charge of the Patiala Crime Investigation Agency (CIA), said on Tuesday, “We conducted a raid at Pathanmajra’s (relative’s) residence in Haryana. He was arrested. But a group of villagers and some mischievous elements pelted stones at the police team and fired gunshots.”
The Sanour MLA used the cover fire and stone pelting to escape, he added.
According to officials, Pathanmajra and his supporters fled in two SUVs — a Scorpio and a
Fortuner. A policeman who tried to stop the vehicles was injured after being hit, they said.
Balwinder Singh, an accomplice of the MLA, was arrested with three weapons in his possession, police said. They later seized the Fortuner, but the MLA managed to flee in the other vehicle.
According to an FIR registered at the Civil Lines police station here on
September 1, Pathanmajra was booked on charges of rape, cheating, and criminal intimidation.