The Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) has arrested Harikesh Patel, son of Gujarat Pradesh Mahila Congress president Gitaben Patel, in an alleged fake passport case, officials said on Wednesday. The ATS has accused Patel of obtaining a second passport using forged documents after his original passport had been surrendered to a court. The agency is investigating how the alleged documents were prepared and whether other people assisted him in securing the second passport.

According to the ATS, Patel’s original passport had been deposited with a court in connection with an Enforcement Directorate investigation. Investigators allege that he subsequently concealed the fact that the passport was with the court and reported it as lost to the Delhi Crime Branch. The ATS has alleged that he then used forged documents, including rent agreements showing a different address, to obtain another passport. Officials said the second passport was issued by the Regional Passport Office in Ghaziabad on July 26, 2024.

The agency has also alleged that Patel used the second passport for international travel. According to ATS officials, he travelled to Bangkok, Singapore and Dubai, using routes through Bhutan, and later returned to India through Nepal. The investigators are examining the travel records as part of the case and are also trying to establish how the alleged identity and address documents were prepared and submitted during the passport application process.

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The ATS investigation is focused not only on Patel but also on the alleged network involved in arranging the documents. Officials are examining the forged papers and financial transactions connected with the passport application. Reports have differed over the amount Patel allegedly paid to facilitate the passport, with one account citing ₹65 lakh and other material putting the figure at ₹25 lakh. The discrepancy has not been independently resolved and remains part of the investigation.

The case has attracted political attention because Patel is the son of Gitaben Patel, who heads the Gujarat Pradesh Mahila Congress. The allegations against her son, however, relate to the ongoing investigation and do not by themselves establish any wrongdoing by his mother. The ATS is expected to examine the circumstances in which the alleged forged documents were created, the people who may have helped obtain them and the purpose for which the second passport was allegedly used.

The investigation also comes amid increased scrutiny by law-enforcement agencies into the use of forged documents to obtain passports and other official identity documents. In this case, the ATS is examining whether Patel deliberately concealed the status of his original passport before applying for another one. Authorities are also looking into his previous legal and financial matters as part of the wider probe. Further action will depend on the evidence gathered by investigators and the proceedings that follow the arrest.

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