Sandeep Pathak faces likely arrest:Punjab Police file 2 FIRs under non-bailable sections days after switching from AAP to BJP

Former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP Sandeep Pathak, who recently joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is facing two FIRs in Punjab involving non-bailable offences, according to a report by ANI. The cases have been registered in separate districts, days after Pathak crossed over to the BJP as part of a broader political shift in the Upper House. Punjab Police reportedly reached Pathak’s residence in Delhi to execute an arrest, but he had left shortly before their arrival, the report said. In a telephone conversation with ANI, the Rajya Sabha MP said, “I have no idea of any FIR against me.” Visuals from outside his residence. BJP, Akali Dal allege ‘political vendetta’ The BJP and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) have questioned the timing of the FIRs, alleging political retaliation by the ruling AAP government in Punjab. Punjab BJP working president Ashwani Sharma accused the state administration of misusing law enforcement agencies to target political opponents. In a post on X, Sharma said the registration of non-bailable FIRs immediately after Pathak’s switch to the BJP ‘clearly shows’ that the government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal was using the police as a ‘political weapon’. “Non-bailable sections, the threat of immediate action, are a shameful act of implementing a political agenda under the guise of law’ he said. He further alleged that Punjab was being turned into a ‘police state’, claiming dissent was being suppressed through legal action. BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi claimed that the police action reflects misplaced priorities. “Punjab Police went to Pathak’s residence and attempted to carry out a raid. We want to ask if the law and order situation has become so weak that the police are unable to act against drug traffickers, but are being used in this manner?” he told reporters. Targeting Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Trivedi said, “Those who claim to represent a new kind of politics should explain how, in their state, law and order has completely collapsed.” Majithia questions ‘selective targeting’ Senior SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia also criticised the move, accusing the AAP government of selectively targeting former associates who have fallen out with the party.
In a post on X, Majithia said Pathak was once a close aide of Mann and Kejriwal and questioned why action was being taken only after his political realignment. “After shifting loyalties, FIRs under non-bailable sections raise serious questions about vendetta politics,” he said. The development has triggered a fresh political confrontation in Punjab, with opposition parties alleging misuse of state machinery, while the AAP government has yet to respond publicly to the accusations. ​