The wife of alleged conman Kiran Patel, who was held in Jammu and Kashmir for posing as a top official of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), was arrested on Tuesday for trying to usurp a senior citizen’s bungalow here, officials said.

Malini Patel was on the run ever since an FIR was registered against the couple on March 22, weeks after her husband was held in J&K.

She was arrested from a relative’s house in Jambusar town of Bharuch district and brought here, said a release by the Ahmedabad city crime branch.

While Malini was arrested in 2017 in a case of cheating and criminal conspiracy registered against her at Naroda police station of the city, Kiran also faces at least four such cases in Gujarat and was also arrested in the past, said the release.

Earlier this month, Kiran, a resident of the Ghodasar area of the city, was arrested by the Jammu and Kashmir police from a five-star hotel in Srinagar after the authorities became suspicious about his activities.

Later on March 22, the Ahmedabad city crime branch registered a case under Indian Penal Code sections 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 120-b (criminal conspiracy) and 170 (personating a public servant) against the couple.