Ex-MLA Simarjeet Bains surrenders in rape case, sent to 3-day police custody

Those who surrendered along with Bains include his brother Paramjit Singh Bains, his employee Pardeep Kumar alias Gogi, Baljinder Kaur and Jasvir Kaur. Bains’ another brother — Karamjit Bains — and his close aide Sukhchain Singh were earlier arrested in the case.

The case was registered against Bains and five others, including his two brothers, on July 16, 2021 on the directions of a local court after a 44-year-old woman alleged that the former MLA had raped her multiple times after she approached him for help in a property dispute case.

Speaking to media at the court, Bains accused the “Badal family” of getting the rape case lodged against him.

“It is a complete political drama. Behind the curtains is the Badal family, and their stooge,” said Bains, while referring to Harish Rai Dhanda, the lawyer representing the complainant woman in the court and who contested the Assembly polls against Bains this year as Shiromani Akali Dal candidate.

“It is a rape on papers and those who have orchestrated it will be exposed very soon. I will bring out the truth,” said Bains, as his supporters raised slogans in his support.

A bitter rivalry between Bains and Badals had started after he left the Akali Dal ahead of 2012 Assembly polls.

Earlier, before surrendering, Bains shared a post on his Facebook page. “Said it before and will say it again. We have full faith in the judicial system…the truth will come out very soon”.

In April, a local court had declared Bains and the other accused as proclaimed offenders as they were not participating in the proceedings. The former MLA had challenged the order in Punjab and Haryana High Court, which rejected his plea.

In the court Monday, Bains’ lawyers opposed police remand. “Police had already recovered the phone and DVR of CCTV cameras so there is no recovery to be made. We opposed the police remand but the court granted police 3-day custody of Bains and three others,” said Advocate SC Gupta, his counsel.

An FIR was registered against Bains — founder-cum-president of LIP and two-time MLA — his brothers Karamjit and Paramjit, and four others, under sections 376 (rape), 354 (assault or criminal force on woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354A (sexual harassment), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 120B (conspiracy) of the IPC, at Division Number 6 police station on July 10, 2021. The police have also started attaching properties of the accused in the case as per court orders.

Bains and his eldest brother Balwinder won from Atam Nagar and Ludhiana south Assembly seats, respectively, in 2012 and 2017. They both lost in this year’s polls.

Bains has always maintained that the rape case was filed ahead of the this year’s state polls due to “political vendetta”. Of the four Bains brothers, Simarjeet and Balwinder are into politics, while Karamjit and Parminder are businessmen.

Speaking about the development, Ludhiana joint commissioner of police (rural) Ravcharan Singh Brar said, “Simarjeet Singh Bains along with four others, surrendered in the court. The court has sent them a three-day police remand.”