Conman posing as PMO official meets top J&K officials, visits border post, arrested

An alleged conman from Gujarat, Kiran Bhai Patel, was arrested for posing as an Additional Director in the Prime Minister’s Office in Jammu and Kashmir.

Kiran Patel was posing as an “Additional Director in the Prime Minister’s Office”. (Photo from @bansijpatel on Twitter)

By Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu: The Jammu and Kashmir Police has arrested a man who impersonated a top official in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and held meetings with top officials in the Union territory.

The alleged conman, identified as Kiran Bhai Patel, used to identify himself as the Additional Director in the PMO. Sources told India Today that Kiran Patel had been visiting the Kashmir Valley since October last year. He even made his way through the Kaman Post in Uri, closer to the Line of Control (LoC), to Lal Chowk in Srinagar before he was arrested.

According to the FIR lodged in Nishat Police Station in Srinagar, Kiran Patel “indulged in activities within the jurisdiction of this police station and other parts of the Kashmir Valley”. He enjoyed government hospitality, was assigned a personal security officer (PSO), and room in a luxury hotel.

Kiran Patel has been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

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The Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Pulwama Basheer ul Haq and the Superintendent of Police Zulfkar Azad were questioned by the Jammu and Kashmir Police on how the alleged conman was not caught on time.

A team of Gujarat Police also joined the investigation, sources said.

So far, the Jammu and Kashmir Police has been tight-lipped about the incident. But sources said it was the CID Branch who detected the conman before central agencies got a wind of it.

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