Srinagar court orders investigation into conman Kiran Patel’s role in ₹18L duping case

A Srinagar court directed police to investigate the role of Kiran Patel, who is already in police custody for allegedly posing as a senior officer of the PMO, in a duping case where a local resident lost ₹18 lakh to a person posing as a business company’s managing director (MD).

The city judge, in an order, directed Kothibagh station house officer (SHO) to investigate the case after a local resident Danish Hassan Dar submitted an application in the court against three persons including Kiran Patel who had posed as Chetan Prakash, MD of Meera Trading Corporation.

“As per the application as well as from the material on record, it appears that the complainant has been cheated by the accused and on false pretensions has been made to pay an amount of ₹18 lakh in two instalments at Pratap Park Srinagar and Chai Jai Restaurant Srinagar. In view of allegations… I deem it proper to direct SHO Kothibagh to conduct preliminary enquiry in the matter and submit the detailed report before this court by or before the next hearing,” the order read.

In his complaint which Dar filed through his lawyer, he said Patel posed as Chetan Prakash, a resident of Begumpur, North West Delhi, and said he was the managing partner of a company dealing in areca nuts. The complainant said he gave ₹18 lakh in two instalments to Patel in Srinagar last year and later began threatening him.

Following Patel’s arrest by Nishat police, he approached police to file a complaint against the conman and two others, both residents of Kolkata, only to later approach the court.

Last week, a home department order signed by additional chief secretary Raj Kumar Goyal had directed Kashmir divisional commissioner (DC) Vijay Kumar Bidhuri to conduct an inquiry into Patel’s visits to Kashmir and the provision of security to him.

Wednesday’s order was the first formal effort at an administrative level to identify the officers who were in touch with Patel and arranged for his security and extended other courtesies.

Patel, who impersonated an official with the Prime Minister’s office, was arrested on March 2 from a luxury hotel in Srinagar by the state police, less than a fortnight after he threw a fit during his February 23 visit to Budgam because no senior official came to receive him.

The alleged conman, who faces four other cases in Gujarat, continues to remain in judicial custody after Srinagar’s chief judicial magistrate rejected his bail application on March 23, holding that it could hamper the police probe.

Gujarat Police recently announced that it has arrested Patel’s wife Malini Patel in a cheating case that was registered against the couple.