Conman Kiran Patel Arrested In Fifth Case Filed In Gujarat

SRINAGAR: Kiran Patel, a fraudster who was apprehended by the Jammu & Kashmir police in March of this year for purportedly presenting himself as an employee of the Prime Minister’s Office, has now been taken into custody by the Ahmedabad City Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) for an additional incident of impersonation, deception, and violation of trust. This marks Kiran’s fifth criminal case in Gujarat.

Following a complaint by Hardik Chandarana (37), the proprietor of RX Events, an event management company located in Ahmedabad’s Ambawadi area, DCB personnel apprehended Kiran after registering an FIR on Saturday, Reported The Indian Express.

The Indian Express reported that Kiran Patel is accused of deceiving Hardik Chandarana, the proprietor of RX Events, by requesting him to arrange a “G20 event” at a luxurious hotel in Ahmedabad city in January and making off with Rs 3.51 lakh. Chandarana claimed in the FIR that Patel contacted him in January 2023 and requested him to arrange an event. Patel then came to Chandarana’s office in Ambawadi on January 10, discussed the event, shared the guest list via WhatsApp while sitting there, and settled on the Hyatt Hotel on Ashram Road as the location.

Patel claimed to work at the Prime Minister’s Office and was assigned to the “Kashmir development project.” Chandarana claims that Patel also promised to provide him with work on a large medical conference in Kashmir.

“Patel sent me his visiting card to gain my confidence,” said Chandarana, who claimed that the card identified Patel as “additional director (strategy and campaigns)” in the PMO and listed his address as “34, Meena Baug Flats, opposite Vigyan Bhavan, off Janpath road, New Delhi, 110001.” Chandarana stated in the complaint that he made arrangements for the “G20 Summit – Scope and Priorities for Various Industries” event, and received event banners and a guest list with photographs from Patel. Patel also added Chandarana to a WhatsApp group called “29th Event @ Hyatt.”

The event reportedly took place on January 29, and Chandarana claims to have paid Rs 1.91 lakh for it. The FIR alleges that Patel informed Chandarana that they would need to go to Srinagar from February 8 to 10 to prepare for a medical conference. “So, I booked air tickets and made a booking at the Lalit hotel in Srinagar, and stayed there, the cost of which was around Rs 1.60 lakh. He also showed me the venue for the conference, on February 10, which was to be held in the near future,” Chandarana said in the FIR. Patel is accused of cheating Chandarana out of Rs 3.51 lakh in total.

Following his extradition from Jammu & Kashmir, Patel was brought to Gujarat by state police on April 8 and arrested in connection with a case of cheating and breach of trust filed by Jagdish Chavda, the brother of former BJP minister Jawahar Chavda. Patel’s wife, Malini, is also a co-accused in the case, which alleges that the couple swindled Chavda of Rs 15 crore under the guise of renovating his residential property in the Shilaj area of Ahmedabad in 2022. Malini was taken into custody on March 29, and after a six-day remand by a local court in Ahmedabad, she was sent to judicial custody.

According to Deputy Commissioner of Police, DCB, Chaitanya Mandalik, Patel remained in police custody until Saturday in connection with the Chavda case. He was then arrested in the latest case registered by Chandarana, and a magisterial court has granted four days of police remand for him, Mandalik added.