Simarjeet Bains’ younger brother held in rape case

FORMER ATAM NAGAR MLA SIMARJEET, WHO IS MAIN ACCUSED, STILL AT LARGE; A WOMAN HAD ALLEGED THAT HE HAD RAPED HER MULTIPLE TIMES

LUDHIANA: Karamjit Singh Bains, younger brother of Lok Insaf Party (LIP) chief and former MLA Simarjeet Singh Bains, was arrested on Saturday for the alleged rape of a 44-yearold woman in Ludhiana. Karamjit is a co-accused in the rape case lodged against Simarjeet, who is still absconding.

According to police, Karamjit was arrested from Ranjit Avenue area of the city where he had been hiding in an underconstruction house belonging to the Bains family. Joint commissioner of police (JCP, rural) Ravcharan Singh Brar said the process to attach their properties and freeze the bank accounts is underway as per the court orders.

Simarjeet was declared a proclaimed offender in the rape case by a Ludhiana court on April 12. Nine days later, police had booked him for “nonappearance in response to a proclamation.”

A 44-year-old woman had alleged that the former Atam Nagar legislator had raped her multiple times after she had approached him for help in a property dispute case. Though the woman lodged a complaint against Simarjeet on November 16, 2020, a first information report (FIR) was registered on July 10, 2021, on the court’s directions. Besides the LIP chief, his two brothers — Karamjit Singh Bains and Paramjit Singh Bains — and aides Sukhchain Singh, Pardeep Kumar, Baljinder Kaur and Jasveer Kaur were booked under Sections 376 (rape), 354 (assault or criminal force on woman with an intent to outrage her modesty), 354-A (sexual harassment), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 120-B (conspiracy) of the IPC at the division number 6 police station.

The Punjab and Haryana high court on June 10 had dismissed the anticipatory bail pleas of Simarjeet and eight others in the rape case. The court had directing that if they appear before the trial court, the pleas be dealt within one week.

Meanwhile, Simarjeet’s elder brother and former MLA Balwinder Singh Bains alleged that his brothers were being falsely implicated in the rape case, adding that he had trust in the judiciary and they will come clean. While Simarjeet and Balwinder are into politics, Karamjit and Parminder are businessmen.