Alleged conman Kiran Patel’s wife arrested in Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad Crime branch arrested Malini Patel, wife of alleged conman Kiran Patel, who impersonated as a senior official of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) during his visit to Jammu and Kashmir, in Ahmedabad on March 28, 2023
| Photo Credit: ANI

Malini Patel, wife of alleged conman Kiran Patel, was on Tuesday arrested in a new case lodged against her and her husband, Kiran Patel, for cheating and trying to usurp property from a senior citizen. 

Her arrest marks the first action by the State Police against Kiran Patel and his family after the alleged conman was arrested by Jammu and Kashmir Police for posing as a top official from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in the first week of March. 

Ms. Patel has been on the run ever since a First Information Report (FIR) was registered against the couple on March 22, weeks after her husband was held in J&K.

On Tuesday, she was arrested from a relative’s house in Jambusar town of Bharuch district and brought to Ahmedabad, a release by Ahmedabad police’s City Crime Branch stated.

The couple face multiple FIRs in Gujarat for cheating, criminal conspiracy, and criminal breach of trust as Mr. Patel allegedly operated a sprawling network in the State, duping people by promising government contracts and clearances. 

Ahmedabad Crime Branch Deputy Commissioner of Police Chaitanya Mandlik told mediapersons that Mr. Patel would be brought from J&K through a transfer warrant after March 31 in connection with the new FIR against him and wife. 

Earlier this month, Mr. Patel was arrested by the J&K Police from a hotel in Srinagar after the authorities grew suspicious over his activities as he availed top class security cover, five star accommodation and held meetings with officials while posing as a top official from Delhi. 

His two aides, Amit Pandya and Jay Sitapara, who were accompanying him at the time of his arrest, were earlier allowed to go, but later called back and arrested by the police. 

Subsequently, Mr. Amit Pandya’s father Hitesh Pandya, an additional Public Relations Officer (PRO) in the Gujarat Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) resigned from the CMO, while Mr. Amit Pandya was removed by the BJP as in-charge of the social media team for the party’s north zone. 

Mr. Amit Pandya runs an IT company and supplies CCTV cameras to state agencies in Gujarat. On his resignation from the CMO, Mr. Hitesh Pandya said he had “resigned on moral ground after his son’s name was dragged” into the case. The State BJP has not issued any statement on Mr. Amit Pandya and his affiliation to the party. 

On March 22, the Ahmedabad City Crime Branch registered a case under Sections 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 120-b (criminal conspiracy) and 170 (personating a public servant) of the Indian Penal Code against Malini and Kiran Patel.

In the FIR, it has been alleged that Mr. Patel tried to grab a bungalow in a posh locality in Ahmedabad by winning the trust of the property’s owner through false claims of being a “Class 1 officer in the PMO” and having close relations with politicians.