Kiran Patel, who has been arrested by Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Police for pretending to be top ranking official of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has apparently cheated many people in Gujarat, promising government contracts or clearances.?
After his arrest, several people have gone public accusing him of cheating and fraud in Ahmedabad, Vadodara and north Gujarat.?
Also read | Top J&K officials questioned after Gujarati ‘conman’ poses as PMO official, gets official protocol
“He came to my office thrice and promised to get contracts from the State government flaunting his connections with the politicians and bureaucrats,” a businessman from Ahmedabad told The Hindu.?
He has allegedly duped several people of more than ?5 crore as per the cases of cheating registered in Ahmedabad and Vadodara and other places.?
Now, Gujarat’s Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) has reportedly joined the probe along with the J&K Police to investigate how he operated his network and who helped him in giving him access to the officials and functionaries in the government.?
In Gujarat, he faces multiple cases of cheating, criminal breach of trust and criminal conspiracy but reportedly faced no police action.?
In 2017, he is said to have duped a policeman’s relative of ?1 crore while posing as an official of the PMO.?
In January this year, he organised an event related to G20 at a five-star hotel that saw the participation of some retired bureaucrats.
After the news of the arrest became public, his wife Malini Patel told local media that her husband was innocent and had done no wrong, insisting that his arrest was a “conspiracy”.?
“He had gone there for some development work. He is an engineer and wanted to contribute to the development of J&K,” Ms. Patel was quoted as saying by the local dailies.
In the past, Kiran Patel has posted videos and pictures of his visits to various parts of J&K and Gujarat. In his Twitter account, he has described himself as “PHD (Commonwealth Uni, Virginia) MBA (IIM TRICHY), M. Tech (Computer Science) , B. E. Computer (L D Engineering), Thinker, Strategist, Analyst, Campaign Manager.”?
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