Patiala, A court here on Sunday extended by seven days the police remand of A MLA Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra, who was arrested by the Punjab Police from Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior on Tuesday night, more than six months after he escaped police custody in a rape case.
The MLA from the Sanour constituency was produced before the court after the completion of his four-day police remand.
During the hearing, the police sought a 10-day extension, stating that further custodial interrogation was necessary to advance the investigation.
After hearing arguments from both sides, the court granted a seven-day extension, observing that this period would be sufficient for the current stage of the probe.
While officials refrained from sharing specific details of the ongoing investigation with the media, they, however, maintained that the extended remand would help them verify several aspects related to the case.
Investigators intend to question Pathanmajra regarding his activities during the period he remained absconding and examine other material evidence connected to the allegations, according to police sources.
On Wednesday, officials said that Pathanmajra, a first-time MLA from Sanour in Patiala, was nabbed along with his three associates from the outskirts of the Gwalior area late Tuesday night.
Amid tight security, Pathanmajra was then produced before a court in Patiala, which had sent him to a four-day police remand.
On September 1, 2025, the police registered a case against Pathanmajra at the Civil Lines police station here on charges of rape, cheating and criminal intimidation, based on a complaint by a Zirakpur-based woman, who alleged that the MLA misrepresented himself as a divorcee, entered into a relationship with her and tied the knot in 2021 while already being married. She accused him of continued sexual exploitation and threats.
He had been absconding since September 2 in the rape case after escaping from police custody when the Punjab police went to Haryana’s Karnal to arrest him. The Patiala police had even issued a look-out notice against the A MLA.
After he escaped police custody, Pathanmajra, in late November, appeared in a video interview with an Australia-based web Punjabi channel in which he claimed that he would “return home only after securing bail”.
Denying all allegations against him, he had then termed the case a “political conspiracy” to silence voices that speak for Punjab’s people.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
