Ashish Ranjan
Government Official Resigns Over Son’s Links: Hitesh Pandya, a senior official in the Gujarat Chief Minister’s office, has resigned in the wake of a massive scandal involving his son’s involvement with a fake ‘official’ team of the “Prime Minister’s Office” that deceived the Jammu and Kashmir administration and security apparatus in order to obtain a Z-plus security cover, official accommodation at a five-star hotel, and many other benefits.
Amit Hitesh Pandya, the son of Mr. Pandya, was a member of a fake “official team” directed by the conman Kiran Bhai Patel, whose arrest at the beginning of this month made headlines.
Mr. Pandya, who served as the Gujarat Chief Minister’s Public Relations Officer (PRO) since 2001, resigned yesterday evening.Even though his son is “innocent,” Mr. Pandya purportedly stated in his resignation letter that he does not want the image of the Prime Minister’s Office and the Gujarat Chief Minister’s Office to be tarnished.
“My son is not guilty. Mr. Pandya reportedly stated in his resignation letter, “I do not wish to tarnish the reputation of the CMO and the PMO, so I am resigning from my position.”
Reportedly, the Gujarat BJP has also expelled Amit Pandya from the party’s primary membership. He was in command of the social media department for the Gujarat north zone.However, Jammu and Kashmir police have not implicated Amit Pandya in the bogus PMO team case. Amit and Jay Sitapara, his fellow Gujarati accomplice, have been made witnesses in the case.
Kiran Bahi Patel was detained earlier this month after posing as a senior PMO official and enjoying official protocol for over four months. Amit and Jay Sitapara were, however, released by police.They were recalled for interrogation last week. A senior police official stated that the pair may have “fallen into the con artist’s trap.”
Multiple locations were visited by the swindle artist, including forward posts along the Line of Control. Before the police were tipped off that he was a fraud artist, the team had also met with officials in various districts throughout Kashmir.
Mr. Pandya previously told that his son was blameless and would never engage in such conduct.”I believe my son. He would never engage in such conduct, Mr. Pandya stated.Patel was detained on March 2 for impersonating an Additional Director for Strategy and Campaigns in the Prime Minister’s Office.
However, the police kept his detention a secret for two weeks. The details of the ‘high-profile’ detention were not made public until March 15, when a magistrate placed him in judicial custody.According to sources, Amit Hitesh Pandya, Jay Sitapara from Gujarat, and Trilok Singh from Rajasthan were also impersonating a team from the Prime Minister’s Office while lodging with Patel at a five-star hotel in Srinagar.
Since October of last year, the “PMO team” has been in Kashmir. According to sources, an IAS officer who serves as a district magistrate in south Kashmir initially notified the police’s security division about the visit of a “senior PMO officer.”
The security wing eventually provided him with Z plus security, and local police have accompanied the ‘VIP’ and his entourage on each of their multiple trips since October.Patel is also verified on Twitter and has over a thousand followers, including Pradipsinh Vaghela, Gujarat General Secretary of the BJP.
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The most recent video and image of his “official visits” to Kashmir, accompanied by paramilitary security, was posted on March 2.
