Punjab Police has achieved a major breakthrough by apprehending Hardeep Singh Pathanmajra, an MLA from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), who had been on the run since September of last year. The arrest took place in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, as confirmed by Varun Sharma, the Senior Superintendent of Police in Patiala, on Wednesday. Pathanmajra is being transported back to Patiala, where he will be presented in a local court.

Authorities reported that Pathanmajra, who was elected for the first time, was captured in Gwalior and is now en route to Patiala. The police indicated that he would be presented in court in the area. The MLA has been wanted in connection with a rape case filed in September of the previous year. A complaint was lodged against him at the Civil Lines police station, where charges of rape, fraud, and criminal intimidation were recorded on September 1, 2025.

The case was initiated based on a complaint from a woman from Zirakpur, who alleged that the MLA misrepresented himself as divorced and entered into a relationship with her, ultimately marrying her in 2021 despite being married already. The woman accused him of continuous sexual exploitation, intimidation, and sending her 'obscene' material.

Due to his failure to appear in court regarding this matter, the AAP MLA was declared a fugitive. The Patiala police had also issued a lookout notice against him. Pathanmajra had been evading arrest since September 2 of last year. He fled when police attempted to apprehend him in Karnal, Haryana.

At that time, police claimed that he was at a relative's house in the village of Dabri in Karnal, and when officers arrived to arrest him, they were met with gunfire and stone-pelting from his supporters. However, Pathanmajra denied the allegations of police involvement in the shooting, asserting that he fled upon realizing he would be killed in a 'fake encounter.'