No such person ever worked with me: Minister refutes report of ‘his PA extorting money’

Gandhinagar: Gujarat Cabinet Minister Rushikesh Patel on Sunday issued a clarification regarding news circulating in the media that his PA, named Jadish Panchal, was accepting money from people in exchange for jobs.

The Minister, in a tweet, said, “No PA or any person by this name is working in my office, and no such person has worked in my office or been in contact with me in even in the past, during my ministerial tenure. Taking serious note of this, strict police action has been ordered.”

મિડીયામાં ફરતા સમાચાર અંગે :
મારા કાર્યાલયમાં આ નામથી પી.એ કે કોઈપણ વ્યક્તિ કામ કરતો નથી અને ભુતકાળમાં પણ મારા મંત્રી કાર્યકાળ દરમિયાન આવા કોઈ પણ વ્યક્તિ મારા કાર્યાલયમાં કામ કરતા નહોતા કે મારા સંપર્કમાં પણ નથી.

આ વાતની ગંભીર નોંધ લઈને કડક પોલીસ કાર્યવાહી કરવાના આદેશ આપ્યા છે. pic.twitter.com/bhuiw3BYmy

— Rushikesh Patel (@irushikeshpatel) July 21, 2024

Media reports that emerged on Saturday indicated that after the announcement of the recruitment of multipurpose health workers by GSSSB, one Jagdish Panchal, claiming to be the personal assistant (PA) of Health Minister Rushikesh Patel, and two others allegedly extorted lakhs of rupees from students by promising them jobs.

A letter in this regard was written to Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel by the Samast Thakor and Koli Ekta Mission of Gujarat.

Following these allegations and the Minister’s clarification, the police have initiated an investigation. The Vinchhiya police have taken statements from 4 students and are carrying out further inquiries into the matter.