Who is Kirti Patel? Influencer with over 1 million followers held for honey-trapping Surat builder

SOcial media influencer Kirti Patel, who has o'er 1.3 gazillion followers on Instagram, was arrested in Ahmedabad after existence on the go for 10 months in connectedness with a honey-trapping and extortion case involving a builder in Surat.The Surat Police, who had been tracking her movements since June 2024, said Kirti Patel had been evading arrest by frequently changing locations across Gujarat and using different SIM cards and IP addresses.A court in Surat had issued a warrant against her last year after a first information report (FIR) was registered in the case, which named five accused. Four of them had already been arrested, while Patel remained absconding.“In June 2024, an FIR was registered for honey-trapping, and 5 accused were there, 4 were arrested while Kirti Patel was on the run for the last 10 months. We had arrested her based on the warrant issued by the court and produced her before the court. She has demanded a ransom of 2 crores from a builder,” news agency ANI quoted Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Zone-1, Surat, Alok Kumar, as saying.Instagram helped in tracking her downThe cop added, “In these 10 months, her location kept changing constantly, in different parts of Gujarat. The IP address kept changing, as did her phone numbers and SIM cards. We also coordinated with Instagram to get her location.”Patel was finally traced to the Sarkhej area of Ahmedabad with the help of cyber experts and local police. “With the help of our technical team and cyber experts, we tracked her location to Sarkhej in Ahmedabad. We contacted our counterparts in Ahmedabad and arrested her,” Kumar added.Apart from the extortion case, Patel is also facing multiple other complaints, including land grabbing. “We will record her statements in these cases as well, and investigate them further,” the DCP said.Who is Kirti PatelKirti Patel, who also goes by the name Kirti Adalja, is a Gujarati-language digital content creator known for her strong online presence despite being a wanted accused in a ₹2 crore extortion case. Patel has also gained notoriety for abusive and threatening posts on social media, according to officials.While on the run for over a year, Patel continued to stay active on social media, frequently posting on Instagram and YouTube. Her Instagram account featured posts from the Mahakumbh in Prayagraj earlier this year, as well as a video message to her followers on her birthday in April.Patel has nearly two lakh subscribers on YouTube, where she began posting videos in 2019. In one of her recent uploads, she shared a news clip related to an FIR being quashed and thanked her supporters for their continued backing. Even as police searched for her, she openly issued threats online and maintained a visible public profile through her social media activity.