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On Monday, the Sanour MLA claimed that his security cover of 12 personnel was withdrawn and the station house officers in his constituency were replaced after his statements.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 February 12, 2014, to June 12, 2024, reported The Indian Express.

Pathanmajra was booked under Indian Penal Code sections pertaining to rape, cheating and criminal intimidation.

Following this, the MLA accused the senior party leadership in Delhi of “illegitimately ruling over Punjab”.

“They can lodge FIRs against me, I can stay in jail, but my voice cannot be suppressed,” he said in a video posted on Facebook.

Aam Aadmi Party spokesperson Baltej Pannu confirmed that Pathanmajra had absconded from police custody.

Pannu also claimed that the MLA had only started criticising the Punjab government and the principal secretary after realising that the police would act against him on the woman’s complaint.

“He started contacting the senior leadership of the party in Delhi,” The Indian Express quoted Pannu as saying.

He added: “As party leader, Arvind Kejriwal, speaks about triple ‘C’ and one of the ‘C’ is ‘character’, the party does not support people in such matters irrespective of the position they hold.”

Pannu described Pathanmajra’s statements about the floods as an “attention diversionary tactic”.

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