In the 1990s, Jayesh Patel, son of a farmer from a village 30 km from Jamnagar in Saurashtra, migrated to the city in search of work. He first got a job in a cloth shop in Jamnagar. Later an STD booth was started. Later it became a brass business. Meanwhile, he was involved in some fraud cases including vehicle theft. When he was arrested two years ago in London, he had 41 cases including murder. A UK court ordered his extradition to India yesterday. A Malayali IPS officer of the Gujarat cadre, who was once the terror of Jamnagar and who now leads the legal battle to extradite him to India.
Last day, former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi said that he would file a case against the Congress leader in London, amid the political controversy following Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Modi’ remark. Many people responded that Lalit Modi, who came to London fearing arrest in a fraud case, first came to India and sought legal recourse. A UK court decision to extradite a criminal to India is being discussed while the cases of many people who have gone abroad are being discussed.
∙ Life beats movies
In the late 2000s, Jayesh Patel entered the real estate business as well as politics. Growth was rapid. At that time, there were allegations that he had the protection of political leaders. Meanwhile, eight of his candidates, who formed a political party called the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Party, contested the Jamnagar Municipal Corporation elections. Two people won. Patel’s wife also started a mid-day newspaper in Gujarati called Navanagar Times during this time. Reports say that it was published till a few years ago.
Jayesh Patel soon found success in the real estate business. His name started being heard in big land deals in Jamnagar. It is also alleged that many were acquired through fraud. His followers will make fake documents in the name of the prominent places in the city and acquire the ownership rights. When this gets disputed, Jayesh Patel intervenes as a mediator and buys a large amount from the owner to avoid the ‘dispute’. Or owning a right to a share of land.
Such a deal in 2016 led to Jayesh Patel’s entanglement. The complaint was that Bhoomi Patel and his gang had stolen land worth 100 crores from a big builder named Vinod Chandra Mehta. Mehta assigned the case to a lawyer named Kirit Joshi, who was known for fighting the case with vigour. Then Jayesh Patel was arrested in December that year. He remained in jail until the end of 2017 after the High Court and the Supreme Court denied him bail. Soon after coming out, he approached the police with a complaint that two people tried to shoot him. The information came out that the brother of one of them is close to lawyer Joshi. The police say that he decided to kill Joshi with this.
∙ Patel followed by ‘play’ abroad
In 2018, Joshi was stabbed to death by three hired killers in Jamnagar as people watched. Police later found that Patel had paid Rs 2.5 crore to the killers. By the time of the murder, Patel had crossed out of India on a fake passport. But the police say that he continued his activities even after coming abroad.
He used his followers to extort money from real estates, builders and businessmen through threats. Meanwhile, his call reaches a large business family in Janganar. It became a big trap for Patel.
∙ Deepan Bhadran to the film
After Patel’s call reached this family, which has a good grip on politics and so on, they raised their complaint to the higher-ups of the state government and the central government. The government and the police woke up. Later, a 2007 batch IPS officer named Deepan Bhadran from Kollam comes into the picture. Deepan Bhadran, who was the head of crime branch in Ahmedabad, was an officer who got a place in the good book of the state government. The killer husband of Rajini, a Malayali who was killed in Ahmedabad, was arrested after years of investigation and was named as the best officer. It was during this time that Deepan Bhadran was appointed as Jamnagar Deputy Superintendent of Police.
The reports published that day say that this is not a normal posting and it is part of the measures to curb the land mafia in Jamnagar. Rajya Sabha MP and Parimal Nathwani tweeted that Deepan Bhadran’s smartness and cunning will help in arresting the criminals.
∙ Finally face to face
Soon, a case was registered against Jayesh Patel under the Gujarat Control of Organized Crime Act. His followers and lawyer were also arrested. According to reports quoting police officials, Patel was in a crisis due to the arrest of his bodyguards and blocking of the means of getting money. According to police, lawyer Joshi was killed by Patel in order to withdraw the case against him and to scare others.
Patel used to extort money from people by threatening people while abroad through WhatsApp calls. The police collected the technical information and handed it over to Interpol. Finally, in 2021, he was arrested in London. Police say that he was absconding in London since 2018. Patel, who was produced in the court, however, objected to his extradition to India. He maintained that he was innocent and that the cases were politically motivated. He claimed that Patel, who was also active in the reservation issue, had trapped him. He was then jailed.
∙ Now the decision belongs to the Home Department
Patel was also lodged in the same Wandsworth jail where Nirav Modi, who is in London after defrauding India of crores, is staying. Apart from the murder of lawyer Joshi, college teacher and real estate dealer Prof. He has 41 cases in his name of trying to kill Parsottam Rajni and two other real estate dealers.
According to the police, he was ordered to be released so that the court could be convinced of the cases that he had committed in India during his stay in London, including extorting money. Now it is up to the UK government to decide the case. The next step is for the British Home Secretary’s office to take a decision in this regard. If it is decided to release him, Patel can approach the court against this. Meanwhile, Adv. The police had arrested three hired killers who were accused in the case of Joshi’s murder. After hiding in various states of India, they were caught when they returned from visiting many foreign countries on fake passports.
∙ Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya are still in UK
Similarly, Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya, who escaped from India and sought refuge in London in the case of cheating crores of rupees, are staying in London. They are still in London as they approached the court against the court order to extradite them to India.
India is mired in legal issues despite a court order to hand over arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari to India in a similar manner. Recently, Interpol dropped his uncle Mehul Choksi, who was involved in the fraud along with Nirav Modi, from the wanted list.
English Summary: UK Court Permits Extradition of Fugitive Gangster Jayesh Patel to India