Punjab MLA Harmit Singh Pathanmajra, who has been absconding since September after being booked in a rape and cheating case, has been arrested in Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior on Tuesday, The Indian Express reported.

Pathanmajra, an Aam Aadmi Party legislator representing the Sanour constituency, was arrested at about 10 pm, the newspaper quoted a government spokesperson as saying.

The MLA had been booked on charges of rape, cheating and criminal intimidation on September 1 after a woman from Zirakpur, Punjab, accused him of sexually exploiting her on the pretext of marriage. She also alleged that he had concealed his first marriage.

After the first information report was registered, the police had sent a team to arrest him from his relative’s home in Haryana’s Karnal district. However, Pathanmajra escaped as his supporters allegedly thew stones and fired gun shots at the police.

In November, Pathanmajra appeared in a video interview with a web portal and claimed that he was in Australia, adding that he would “return home only after securing bail”. The MLA claimed that he had been framed.

However, a court in Patiala rejected his petition for anticipatory bail and issued a proclamation notice against him.

Issued under the Criminal Procedure Code section 82, a proclamation requires an absconding person to appear at a specified place and time not less...

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