Man Arrested For Posing as Gujarat Official Escapes From Vadodara Court

A man arrested for allegedly posing as an official from the Gujarat chief minister's office (CMO) and also raping a model escaped from police custody by dodging a cop at a court premises in Vadodara, police said on Sunday.

The accused conman, Viraj Patel, was arrested in April on charges of cheating, forgery, rape and pretending to hold a particular office as public servant. He was lodged at the Vadodara Central Jail as an undertrial.

He had also posed as president of the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City), police earlier said.

Patel was taken to the court of additional sessions judge MN Saiyad on Friday for a hearing.

He managed to escape after dodging a head constable who was given the charge of his custody, an official from Gotri police station said quoting an FIR registered on Friday night.

The fresh FIR was lodged against Patel under Indian Penal code Section 224 (for resistance or obstruction by a person to his lawful apprehension) and efforts were underway to arrest him, the official said.

Patel was arrested in April after being brought to a police station following a quarrel with some person at a multiplex in the city. His girlfriend was accompanying him.

He had told the police that he worked as an official in the CMO.

When police checked his identity, it was found that he used a different surname on his PAN card, while there was no surname mentioned on his Aadhaar card.

During interrogation, Patel revealed he was neither working in the CMO nor was he president of the GIFT City, the police earlier said.

After his real identity came to light, the model from Mumbai accompanying him claimed he had raped her under the pretext of giving her a job as the brand ambassador of GIFT City and promised to marry her, they said.

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