Vadodara: ‘Conman’ held for posing as Gujarat CMO official dodges police, flees from court premises

The Vadodara city police has registered a case with the Gotri police station against him under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for obstructing lawful apprehension.

Gotri police inspector R N Patel said they have formed various teams and efforts are on to nab Viraj after inspecting CCTV footage of the court premises. Viraj – a resident of Sargasan village in Gandhinagar – was arrested by Vadodara city police in April after he allegedly tried to pass himself off as a CMO official and the president of GIFT City (Gujarat International Finance Tec-City) in Gandhinagar during a brawl at a multiplex in the city.

When the police called out his bluff, the Mumbai-based woman who was accompanying Viraj also filed a police complaint against Viraj for allegedly raping her several times from April 8 onwards after promising to make her the “brand ambassador” of GIFT City.

Following this, the Vadodara city police registered two FIRs against Viraj. In the first FIR filed suo motu by the police, Viraj was booked under IPC sections 170 (pretending to hold office as a public servant), 417 (punishment for cheating), 467 (forgery of a valuable security), 468 (forgery of a document with the intention of cheating) and 471 (dishonestly using a forged document as genuine).

In the second FIR based on the woman’s complaint, he was booked under IPC sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating and dishonestly), and 376(2)(n) (repeated rape on the same woman). On November 10, he was produced in the court in connection with the rape case.