Ahmedabad: After remaining absconding for nearly 10 months, controversial influencer Kirti Patel, also known by her online alias Kirit Adalja, was finally arrested by Surat Police earlier this week in Ahmedabad, bringing a dramatic end to a case that had been closely watched since mid-2023.
Patel, who rose to internet fame through her street interviews, motorcycle vlogs, and spiritual content, has been arrested in connection with a multi-crore extortion and honey-trap case involving a prominent Surat-based real estate developer. The case, first reported in June 2023, had already seen the arrest of four other accused, making Patel the last major suspect to be nabbed.
Police officials confirmed that Patel, who has over 1.3 million Instagram followers and close to 2 lakh YouTube subscribers, employed advanced tactics to avoid arrest, including frequent location shifts across Gujarat, frequent SIM card changes, and masking her online activity using multiple IP addresses. She was eventually traced to Sarkhej, a suburban area in Ahmedabad, through cyber surveillance and tracking of her Instagram usage.
“Despite being on the run, Patel maintained an active social media presence. Her recent post — just five days before the arrest — showed her interacting with children on the streets,” said a senior police official. “It was clearly a ploy to maintain an image of innocence and normalcy.”
Investigations suggest Patel blackmailed the builder, threatening to leak compromising content, and allegedly demanded several crores. Authorities also said that Patel was instrumental in orchestrating the honey-trap, while others assisted in filming and threatening the victim.
But this isn’t the only brush with the law for the influencer. In 2020, she was involved in a TikTok-related assault controversy, after Raghu Bharwad, a fellow content creator known as Boliyo, accused her of public humiliation and assault. Both sides had filed complaints in that matter.
Later the same year, Patel drew the ire of wildlife officials when she uploaded a TikTok video with an owl, a protected species under Indian law. She was fined ₹25,000 by the Surat Wildlife Division for the violation.
Surat police officials say Patel’s name has also surfaced in land grabbing and intimidation complaints over the past few years, and further probes are now underway to determine whether she was part of a larger extortion racket targeting high-profile individuals.
