Srinagar 18th Mar: Noting that the LG Manoj Sinha-led administration was befooled four times by a conman from Gujarat, former chief minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday called the Jammu and Kashmir administration ‘incompetent’.
The conman in question, Kiran Patel, posed as an additional director in the Prime Minister’s Office and was provided with a bulletproof car and security cover besides free accommodation in a luxurious hotel. He was arrested on March 3, when he was on his third visit to the Kashmir Valley.
Speaking at a party function in the south Kashmir’s Kulgam district, Omar said that while many leaders of his party were not given security on the pretext of non-availability of vehicles, but the same was ensured for a fraudster from outside.
“It is astonishing that a person came from Gujarat and said he was an officer in the PMO but no one cared to verify his credentials,” said the National Conference vice-president.
Omar said that the administration should have verified the same with the PMO.
“You were befooled once, I can understand that. But what incompetent government is this that you were befooled four times,” he said, taking a swipe at J&K administration.
“Patel went to Gulmarg to inspect hotels and the photographs and videos of him visiting the sensitive LoC in Uri are also on the social media. How can you say that he has not been given the confidential information, and how can we say that he has not shared the same with the enemy,” said Abdullah.
Abdullah also said that the blame is being shifted on a Deputy Commissioner, but the truth is that the orders to provide security to Patel must have come from the higher-ups, adding that the Sinha-led administration was busy pleasing the PMO, instead of serving the people of Jammu and Kashmir.