Z-plus security cover, a bulletproof Mahindra Scorpio SUV, official accommodation at a five-star hotel and a whole lot more – a conman from Gujarat managed to take the Jammu and Kashmir administration and its security structure for a ride, posing as a senior official from the Prime Minister’s Office.
The imposter, Kiran Bhai Patel, also held a series of meetings with officials during his two visits to Srinagar earlier this year.
Patel, who was impersonating an Additional Director for strategy and campaigns in the Prime Minister’s Office, was arrested at least 10 days ago, but his arrest was kept a secret by the police. On Thursday, details of his arrest emerged after a magistrate sent him to judicial custody. It’s unclear if a First Information Report or FIR was registered on the same day of his arrest or there was some delay in filing it.
Patel is also verified on Twitter and has over a thousand followers, including BJP Gujarat General Secretary Pradipsinh Vaghela. He shared several videos and pictures of his ‘official visits’ in Kashmir surrounded by paramilitary guards, the last of which was on March 2.
