Thug’s first visit to the Valley was in February when he visited the health resorts.
Kashmir:
Z-plus security cover, a bulletproof Mahindra Scorpio SUV, official accommodation in a five-star hotel and much more – a conman from Gujarat posing as a senior takes the Jammu and Kashmir administration and its security structure for a ride I succeeded. Officials from the Prime Minister’s Office.
The impostor Kiranbhai Patel also held several meetings with the officials during his two visits to Srinagar earlier this year.
Patel, who was posing as an additional director for strategy and operations in the Prime Minister’s Office, was arrested at least 10 days ago, but his arrest was kept secret by the police. The details of his arrest came to the fore after he was sent to judicial custody by a magistrate on Thursday. It is not clear whether the First Information Report or FIR was registered on the day of his arrest or there was some delay in registering it.
He is also seen posing for photographs in front of Clock Tower Lal Chowk in Srinagar.
Patel is also verified on Twitter and has over a thousand followers, including BJP Gujarat general secretary Pradipsinh Vaghela. He shared several videos and photos of his ‘official visits’ to Kashmir, the last of which was on 2 March, surrounded by paramilitary guards.
In his Twitter bio, he claims to have a PhD from Commonwealth University, Virginia, an MBA from IIM Trichy, as well as an M.Tech in Computer Science and a BE in Computer Engineering. Patel further described himself as a “ideologist, strategist, analyst and campaign manager”.
Thug’s first visit to the Valley was in February when he visited the health resorts.
Kiran Patel shared many pictures of her Kashmir tour
There are many videos of him traveling to different places by paramilitary forces and police. He is seen walking through the snow at Dudhpathri in Budgam with paramilitary guards. He is also seen posing for photographs in front of Clock Tower Lal Chowk in Srinagar.
Sources say Patel also held meetings with officials to discuss ways to bring more tourists from Gujarat and make Dudhpathri a major tourist destination.
Patel came under suspicion after his second visit to Srinagar within two weeks. Sources said an IAS officer, who is a district magistrate, informed the police about the visit of a “senior PMO official” last month.
Patel is also verified on Twitter and has over a thousand followers, including BJP Gujarat general secretary Pradipsinh Vaghela.
Intelligence agencies alerted the police about an impostor posing as a PMO official. After verifying his background, the police were asked to arrest the man from a hotel in Srinagar.
Sources say action has been initiated against two police officers for blunder and failure to detect the imposter in time.
Sources said that a team of Gujarat Police is also joining the probe.