Received VIP hospitality and visited tourist places in Kashmir
Kiran J Patel has over a thousand followers on Twitter and has a verified Twitter account. Patel, posing as an additional director for strategy and campaigns in the Prime Minister's Office, had visited several tourist destinations in Kashmir, including Gulmarg, claiming that the government had tasked him with looking for improvements in the area's hotel facilities.
Furthermore, the man from Gujarat had obtained Z-plus security cover, a bulletproof SUV, and official lodging at a five-star hotel in Jammu and Kashmir, effectively fooling the administration.
However, on his third visit to the Kashmir Valley, Patel was apprehended by alert security officials on March 3, according to news agency PTI. He was apprehended by police from a five-star hotel in Srinagar for posing as a "additional secretary" in the Centre and receiving security and other perks.
According to reports, Patel claimed that the government had assigned him the task of identifying buyers for apple orchards in south Kashmir, and that a couple of IAS officers were in awe of him as he dropped names of high-ranking bureaucrats and politicians in the national capital.
Security officials became suspicious after he arrived at the airport on March 2 because there was no record of any VIP movement. An attempt was made to stop him at the airport, but it failed because he had already entered a bullet-proof car on his way to the hotel.
Security officials recovered forged identity cards from his possession following his questioning and subsequent arrest, according to court documents
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