Gujarat CMO official resigns after son’s name crops up in ‘conman’ case

Ahmedabad: A senior official in the Gujarat Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) has resigned after his son’s name cropped up in connection with a case involving alleged conman Kiran Patel, who was arrested for allegedly posing as a top official of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), government sources said.

Hitesh Pandya, additional public relations officer (PRO) in the CMO, resigned from his post on Friday over the controversy surrounding his son Amit Pandya for his connection with arrested conman Kiran Patel, they said.

Pandya, who was associated with the CMO for around two decades, tendered his resignation to Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Friday evening, the sources said.

Patel, a resident of the city’s Ghodasar, was arrested by the Jammu and Kashmir Police on March 3 from a five-star hotel in Srinagar after authorities grew suspicious about his activities.

Pandya’s son and one Jay Sitapara were reportedly accompanying Patel when he was arrested by the Jammu and Kashmir police. The duo were initially let go and later summoned by the police for questioning.

This comes even as the Ahmedabad police registered a fresh first information report (FIR) against Patel on cheating and criminal conspiracy charges for trying to usurp a senior citizen’s bungalow here with his wife Malini Patel also named as an accused.

As per the complaint, Patel contacted the owner of a bungalow in a posh locality of Ahmedabad and claimed to be a real estate agent and took Rs 35 lakh from him for its renovation and took its possession by putting up their name plate outside it. The couple left the place after the owner returned. However, the owner later learnt through a court notice that Patel had filed a civil suit claiming ownership of the property.