J&K govt orders probe into Gujarat conman’s Kashmir VIP visits

The Jammu and Kashmir government on Wednesday ordered an inquiry into visits of a conman who was posing as an ‘additional secretary’ in the Centre and enjoying security cover besides other hospitality during his visits to the Valley.

Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, Vijay Kumar Bidhuri has been appointed as inquiry officer to probe the matter. “The inquiry officer shall identify the lapses on the part of the officers and officials concerned and submit a detailed report within one week," reads an order issued by J&K Additional Chief Secretary, Home Department, Raj Kumar Goyal.

Earlier, The Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Kashmir, Vijay Kumar had said that the conman was given the security cover due to failure of some field officers noting that action will be taken against all such officers.

Kiran Bhai Patel, a conman from Gujarat, had been posing as additional director (strategy and campaigns) in the Prime Minister’s Office and operating in Kashmir for several months.

His twitter timeline is filled with videos of him, dressed in a Nehru jacket and sunglasses, going from one location to another in the conflict-ridden region with a huge police entourage, carrying weapons around him.

According to court documents, Patel was on his third visit to Kashmir when he was nabbed by alert security officials on March 3 from a five-star hotel in Srinagar.

Patel had claimed he had been given a mandate by the Center to identify buyers for apple orchards in south Kashmir and a couple of IAS officers were in awe of him as he had been dropping names of high-ranking bureaucrats and politicians in the national capital.

Patel was sent for judicial custody and is currently lodged in Central Jail Srinagar. The Jammu and Kashmir police has also put two associates of Patel under custody for questioning. They have been identified as Amit Pandya and Jai Sitapara.