Gujarat ATS arrests Congress leader Gitaben Patel’s son in fake passport case

The Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad has arrested Gujarat Pradesh Mahila Congress president Gitaben Patel’s son, Harikesh Patel, for allegedly obtaining a second passport using forged documents after he had surrendered his original passport in court, ATS officials said.

Officials said the Shahibaug resident used the second passport to travel to Bangkok, Singapore and Dubai via Bhutan and return to India through Nepal.

According to ATS officials, his first passport was deposited in court during an Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe into an online investment fraud case. After his bail was rejected, he allegedly filed a false “lost passport” complaint in Delhi, used fake rental papers and a false Agra address, and obtained a new passport from Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh in July 2024.

He was arrested from the Science City area in Ahmedabad after the ATS received information that he was holding two passports.

A case was registered at the ATS police station on September 13 under several sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including Section 336(2) (forgery) and Section 340 (using a forged document as genuine), and Section 12(1)(b) (furnishing false information to obtain a passport) of the Passports Act, 1967. Further investigation is underway.

Gujarat Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi said the party had learnt of the arrest. “The law must take its own course. If he has done something illegal, it will deal with him accordingly,” he said.