A court in Ahmedabad granted bail to Mayank Patel the day after he was arrested for allegedly harassing and stalking a government official in Modasa, Aravalli.
According to police, the 28-year-old Patel, a Gujarat Admin-istrative Services (GAS) officer, received conditional bail. On Tue- sday, a team of Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Cell arrested Patel, who is posted as deputy collector in Modasa Zilla Seva Sadan in Aravalli, on a complaint by a woman alleging that he had been stalking, harassing and defaming her for the past one-and-a-half years.
Patel has been booked under Indian Penal Code section 500 for defamation, 354d for stalking, 506 for criminal intimidation and 509 for insulting the modesty of a woman along with sections of the Information Technology Amendment Act. “The accused officer was granted conditional bail, provided he reports to the police station from 1st to 5th of every month till the chargesheet is filed. The accused will not threaten or lure the victim and her family, nor will he get involved in such activities again. If he is holding a passport, it has to be surrendered before the court and he has to cooperate with the investigating officers. Failure to comply with any of the conditions will result in cancellation of the bail,” said a senior official of Ahmedabad Cyber Crime.
Mayank Patel, a native of Shihora village in Kapadvanj of Kheda district, also served as deputy mamlatdar in 2016 before he cracked the Gujarat Public Service Commission (GPSC) entrance examination in 2017.
According to police, when Patel was serving as deputy mamlatdar, he met the woman at official meetings and gained an acquaintance. As per the woman’s complaint, when Patel was posted as deputy collector, he allegedly started harassing her through calls and messages.
Police said the woman approached them only after Patel sent her indecent pictures to her minor son, leading to her falling into depression. She is under counselling, they added.