Conman Arrested In Kashmir Handed Over To Gujarat Police

A conman from Gujarat arrested in Kashmir a month ago was handed over to the Gujarat police today following the order of a magistrate in Srinagar. Kiran Bai Patel had posed as a senior official of the Prime Minister's Office for four months, and took the administration for a ride, availing for himself Z-Plus security and official protocol in the Valley.

Gujarat officials had requested the transfer of custody, citing that he is also wanted in cases in the western state. After the order from the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Patel was handed over to a team of Gujarat Crime Branch officials.

The arrest of the conman and the subsequent revelations of how he had taken the entire security system for a ride, have shocked many. The Jammu and Kashmir administration has ordered a probe into how he managed to remain undetected for four months.

Since October, Patel had visited multiple places in Jammu and Kashmir, including forward posts along the Line of Control. The team also held meetings with officials in various districts across Kashmir before police were alerted that Patel was a conman.

Patel, who was posing as an Additional Director for strategy and campaigns in the Prime Minister's Office, was arrested on March 2. But the police kept the arrest under wraps for two weeks. The details emerged only after a magistrate sent him to judicial custody on March 15.

The self-styled "PMO team" was visiting Kashmir since October last year.
Sources say an IAS officer who is a district magistrate in south Kashmir had initially informed the security wing of the police about the visit of a "senior PMO officer".

He was eventually given Z-Plus security by the security wing, and the local police would also accompany the "VIP" wherever he and his team came visiting.

Patel shared several videos and pictures of his "official visits" showing him being accompanied by paramilitary guards, the last of which was on March 2. He and his "PMO" team have also been accused of duping people of lakhs of rupees in the Kashmir Valley.