Hitesh Pandya, additional PRO in Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel’s office tendered his resignation on Friday. Pandya’s son Amit was one of the two persons who accompanied 'conman' Kiran Patel in J&K Valley.
Patel, who posed as a senior officer in the Prime Minister’s office, enjoyed Z+ security in the valley. He also held meetings with senior officers and claimed that he was sent to the Valley to explore the possibility of developing various sectors, including horticulture.
He was arrested by the J&K police and multiple agencies are looking into the reasons behind Patel posing as an officer from the PMO. Those who have been in contact with Patel are also being interrogated. Amit Pandya and Jai Sitapara, from Saurashtra, accompanied Patel.
Even as Hitesh Pandya tendered his resignation, the Gujarat BJP suspended Amit from the primary membership of the party. Interestingly, there is nothing official about what has been done about Patel, who claims on social media to be a BJP member.
Hitesh Pandya told a section of the media that he has tendered his resignation to the Chief Minister and he would wind up his work by March 31. Pandya added he would also get relieved from office on the same day.
Meanwhile, with each passing day, new complaints are coming against Patel. Patel, who had three complaints against him, had the habit of posting his photographs with top BJP leaders on social media. In the political circles of Gujarat, he is now being labelled “fixer”. He is alleged to have been facilitating the clearing of files in the state government.
He had also assured some diamond merchants of all clearances, should they invest in J&K.
On Thursday, Jagdish Chavda, 63, a resident of Shilaj in Ahmedabad filed a complaint against Patel with the city’s crime branch. Chavda is the brother of Congress turncoat Jawahar Chavda, who joined the BJP.
Jagdish alleged Patel told him that he would renovate his (Jagdish's) house and would sell it. He took Rs 35 lakh for the renovation and when Jagdish returned from his native Junagadh, he found that Patel had put his name plate on the bungalow and had also done vastu puja.
When cornered, he left the bungalow without completing the renovation. He had claimed that he would return the money when he gets paid for some big projects he had received from a corporate house.
Later on, in August 2022, Jagdish received a notice from the Ahmedabad district court that he occupied the bungalow illegally.