A senior official in the Gujarat Chief Minister's Office (CMO) resigned on Friday after his son's name got associated in a case involving the alleged conman Kiran Patel who was arrested for posing as a top official of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), reported news agency PTI.
Hitesh Pandya, Additional Public Relations Officer (PRO) who has been a part of Gujarat CMO for around two decades submitted his resignation to Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Friday evening as per PTI sources.
The conman Kiran Patel, a resident of the city named Ghodasar was arrested in Srinagar from a five-star hotel on March 3 after authorities got suspicious of his activities after he visited twice within two weeks. An IAS officer who is a District Magistrate informed the police about this after which intelligence agencies alerted the police regarding a conman posing as a PMO official. Agencies asked the police to arrest him right away.
As per reports, Pandya's son and another man named Jay Sitapara were accompanying Patel when he was arrested by the Jammu and Kashmir Police. Initially, the police allowed the duo to go however later they were summoned for questioning.
Conman Posed As Real Estate Agent
Ahmedabad Police had registered a First Information Report (FIR) against Patel earlier on charges of cheating and criminal conspiracy for trying to illegally acquire a senior citizen's bungalow. Patel's wife Malini is also an accused in this case.
As per the FIR, Patel contacted the owner of a bungalow in a posh locality of Ahmedabad while claiming to be a real estate agent. He took Rs 35 lakhs from the victim in the name of renovating his house but took its possession by putting up his own nameplate outside the house.
After the owner returned, the couple left however, the owner was later notified through a court notice that the couple had filed a civil lawsuit against him claiming the ownership of the property.