Patiala/Karnal, Sept. 3 -- It is not everyday that a lawmaker attempts to flee from the police, controlled by a government run by his own party, covered by a hail of bullets and stones hurled by his supporters, before almost running over a policeman in his successful dash to freedom, but not before making a defiant declaration on social media. Yet, all these seemingly improbable things came together in a dramatic turn of events in Haryana's Karnal district on Tuesday morning, when the Punjab Police attempted to arrest the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislator from Sanaur, Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra, from the house of a relative. Pathanmajra, 50, successfully fled from his relative and Haryana Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee (HSGMC) member Gurnam Singh Laddi's house at Dabri village in Karnal early on Tuesday, minutes after a Punjab Police team arrived to arrest him in connection with a rape case. "We had arrested Pathanmajra when villagers and some miscreants started pelting stones and opened fire at the police team. Taking advantage of the commotion, the AAP MLA fled from the spot," said Patiala crime investigation agency (CIA) in-charge Pradeep Bajwa. Bajwa said the police team managed to arrest the MLA's alleged accomplice, Balwinder Singh, and said that three weapons were recovered from him. A Toyota Fortuner, owned by one of the MLA's aides, was also impounded. "Efforts are on to arrest MLA Pathanmajra, who is on the run," Bajwa said. A police personnel was injured when the vehicle in which the MLA allegedly escaped tried to run him over, Bajwa said, adding the injured cop was under treatment and stable. Punjab AAP leader Baltej Pannu said, "The woman had filed a complaint against Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra last week. Following this, the MLA contacted senior party leaders (for help). However, the party leaders refused to help him... When he found out that police will take action based on the woman's complaint, he started making statements on floods. The MLA even said police would take action against him for speaking on flood. These were his tactics to divert attention from his arrest in the rape case." On Sunday, the AAP MLA had accused Punjab water resources principal secretary Krishan Kumar of misguiding chief minister Bhagwant Mann and failing to ensure timely desilting of rivers, particularly of Ghaggar and Tangri rivers, which aggravated the flood situation in his constituency. He said the government should listen to people or they "will thrash us." Pathanmajra also alleged the party was trying to suppress Punjab MLAs instead of fixing the administration. Punjab is witnessing its worst floods in nearly four decades, with 30 people having lost their lives in 12 worst-affected districts of the border state. According to government data, an estimated 354,000 people have been impacted by the floods, with the most 145,000 in Gurdaspur district. On Monday, Pathanmajra security cover was withdrawn. During his visit to flood-affected Ferozepur on Tuesday, Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann, when asked, did not respond to queries about police action in Pathanmajra's arrest. But on Monday, he moved to the house of Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (HSGMC) member and a former sarpanch, Laddi, who is at large. According to Haryana Police, Pathanmajra's whereabouts are also unknown. Before fleeing, Pathanmajra went live on Facebook and announced that he was being booked in an old rape complaint. He appealed to his fellow AAP legislators to raise their voice against the party high command from Delhi "for their constant interference in the state's affairs and to save Punjab". He also asked his supporters and well-wishers to reach the Patiala district police chief's office and protest against the action against him. "This is the price I'm paying for speaking up for Punjab. They are mistaken if they can crush my voice by filing false cases against me. Come what may, I will still speak up for Punjab," the leader said before his arrest and eventual escape. In the FIR registered against Pathanmajra at 11pm on Monday, a copy of which is with HT, he was booked under Sections 376, 420 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code. The fresh FIR was registered based on a complaint lodged by a Zirakpur resident in 2022 in which she stated that Pathanmajra had married her in August 2021 without divorcing his first wife. She alleged that he had cheated her as she was told before the wedding that he had formally got a divorce. She accused him of continued sexual exploitation, threats, and sending "obscene" material to her. The Sanaur MLA is the fourth AAP legislator in Punjab to be arrested. The VB arrested former health minister and Mansa MLA Vijay Singla for corruption in May 2022, while Bathinda Rural AAP MLA Amit Rattan Kotfatta was held by the VB in a corruption case on February 23, 2023 On May 24 this year, the VB arrested Jalandhar Central MLA Raman Arora in a corruption case that also involved a municipal corporation official. Meanwhile, AAP leader Baltej Singh Pannu said Pathanmajra started speaking against the IAS officer and raising the flood issue after he learnt that the police could take action against him....