Alleged conman from Gujarat Kiran Patel, held in Jammu and Kashmir for posing as a top official of the Prime Minister Office (PMO), has been booked by the Ahmedabad cops on cheating and criminal conspiracy charges for trying to usurp a senior citizen's bungalow here using the same tactic, said an official on Thursday. Patel, a resident of the Ghodasar area of the city, was arrested by the Jammu and Kashmir police earlier this month from a five-star hotel in Srinagar after the authorities grew suspicious about his activities.

On Wednesday, the Ahmedabad city crime branch lodged a case of cheating (Indian Penal Code section 420), criminal breach of trust (406), criminal conspiracy (120-b) and personating a public servant (170) against the alleged conman, said Deputy Commissioner of Police, Crime, Chaitanya Mandlik. Patel's wife Malini Patel has been shown as a co-accused in the FIR (first information report), he said.