All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) Corporator Matin Patel, whose statement was recorded by the Nashik Police in the alleged TCS sexual harassment and religious conversion case on Monday, has told investigators that he unknowingly helped accused Nida Khan’s family arrange temporary accommodation in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar after being approached through a local acquaintance from Nashik.

During a marathon nine-and-a-half-hour interrogation, Patel, according to his lawyer Abhaysinh Bhosale, told police that he neither knew nor had ever met Nida Khan before the case surfaced and was unaware of the allegations against her when he helped the family.

Khan is one of eight employees accused in the TCS Nashik case, in which Nashik city police registered nine FIRs between March 26 and April 3, alleging sexual harassment and religious conversion of colleagues at a TCS BPO office in Nashik. Khan, the only woman among the accused, was specifically alleged to have aided the religious conversion of a victim by giving her a burqa and religious books and installing religious apps on her phone. A sessions court had rejected her anticipatory bail plea, and she was eventually arrested on May 7 from a house in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, making her the last of the eight accused to be taken into custody.

Patel was named as the fourth accused in one of the nine FIRs registered by Nashik Police in the case after investigators alleged that he had sheltered and harboured Khan in a house in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.

The controversy escalated after the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Municipal Corporation demolished Patel’s residence and office, along with the 600 sq ft house where Nida Khan had allegedly stayed briefly before her arrest. Civic authorities had initially claimed that the property belonged to Patel. However, a 31-year-old man, Hanif Khan, later moved the Bombay High Court, claiming ownership of the demolished structure and alleging illegal demolition. Hanif Khan’s statement was also recorded by the Nashik Police on Monday alongside Patel’s.

Bhosale told this newspaper that Patel was contacted by an acquaintance from Nashik who sought help in arranging temporary accommodation for Khan’s family in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.

Patel, Bhosale added, told investigators that on April 30, Nida Khan’s father and the acquaintance met him at his office, requesting assistance in finding a house, stating that there was a pregnant woman with them and they needed help in finding temporary accommodation. He claimed he had “no inkling” that Khan was an accused in the case and subsequently contacted several people he knew locally in search of accommodation. Police are now examining the call records from Patel’s phone, which has been seized by the Special Investigation Team (SIT).

As per Patel’s statement, he eventually approached Hanif Khan, who had recently purchased the house and was planning renovations. Khan allegedly agreed to let the family stay there temporarily, following which Nida Khan’s family moved into the house on May 3.
Hanif Khan, in his statement, reportedly told police that the family stayed at the house for three to four days before Nida Khan’s arrest on May 7.

Days after Khan’s arrest, the civic body demolished the house on May 13, triggering political controversy and legal challenges over the demolition drive.

The SIT has since seized Patel’s mobile phone to verify call records and communication details. Investigators have also taken custody of property documents from Hanif Khan, who maintains that the demolished structure belonged to him.

Both Patel and Hanif Khan have now been summoned again on June 1 as part of the ongoing investigation.

“We received a notice from the Nashik Police dated May 21 asking my client to present himself for questioning in FIR no 156/2026. We have complied with the request. They have seized Matin’s phone and we are fully cooperating with the police. Matin had no knowledge of who Nida was, he helped the family because they had made a request seeking help. Matin has never met Nida nor does he know her,” Advocate Abhaysinh Bhosale, representing Patel, told The Indian Express.