The Jammu and Kashmir Police have 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. Patel had been in 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.
Three more people posing as part of an 'official team' led by a conman from Gujarat, Kiran Bhai Patel, may have escaped from Kashmir before police arrested the "senior PMO official" early this month in Srinagar.
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).
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.
Sources say Amit Hitesh Pandiya and Jay Sitapara from Gujarat, and Trilok Singh from Rajasthan were also staying with Patel at a five-star hotel in Srinagar and impersonating an official team from the Prime Minister's Office.
Alleging a political conspiracy, advocate Rehan Gowhar, Patel's lawyer, said that two more people accompanying him were set free by the police.
Patel came under suspicion after he asked a senior official to accompany him on an official tour to the Budgam district. The officer, according to sources, contacted a top CID officer. Subsequent investigation by intelligence officers nailed the imposter.
