On Tuesday, a deputy collector posted in the Aravalli district of Modasa was detained for reportedly harassing and stalking a woman who formerly worked with him.
Mayank Patel (28), a Gujarat Administrative Services (GAS) officer assigned as deputy collector at Modasa Zilla Seva Sadan in Aravalli, was arrested on Tuesday by a team of Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Branch officers after the woman filed a complaint, according to police.
According to police, the woman filed a written complaint claiming that the accused has been stalking, harassing, and defaming her for the past one and a half years via phone and social media.
According to police, the mother came forward after the accused officer sent her indecent images to her minor son, causing her to become depressed. They also stated that she is undergoing counselling.
Mayank Patel, a native of Shihora village in Kheda district’s Kapadvanj, worked as a deputy mamlatdar in 2016 before being selected through the Gujarat Public Service Commission (GPSC) entrance examination in 2017.
“The complainant stated that when the accused was posted as deputy mamlatdar, she met him twice or three times at official meetings,” Amit Vasava, deputy commissioner of police, Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Cell, said. Mayank Patel was afterwards sent as deputy collector in Modasa, where he ran into the complainant at meetings… They also paid visits to one other’s homes due to old acquaintance .”
It was during this time that the accused started harassing the woman and interfering in her work, police said, citing the complaint. “She claimed that if she declined his phone calls, he used to call and message on WhatsApp… The accused also would track her phone’s location and stalk her. If she declined his calls, he would call her husband and abuse him,” said Vasava.
“The accused also attempted to defame the woman by sending indecent images of her to her son and father-in-law.” He threatened to kill the woman when she attempted to talk with the accused’s parents and wife. We arrested the culprit at his office on Tuesday after a FIR was filed against him, using technical surveillance and investigation,” he added.
Patel was charged with defamation under section 500 of the Indian Penal Code, stalking under section 354d, criminal intimidation under section 506, and insulting a woman’s modesty under section 509 of the Information Technology Amendment Act.