Gujarat IAS officer Rajendrakumar Patel (IAS:2015:GJ) has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a money laundering case. He was picked up from Gandhinagar late on Thursday evening and taken to Surendranagar for investigation. The case relates to his stint as Surendranagar District Magistrate. Patel happens to be the second civil servant to be arrested by the enforcement agency in this case.
Patel had been removed from the District Collector’s post on December 24 following the arrest of a deputy mamlatdar.
Apart from the ED, the state’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) also recently registered cases against him along with his personal assistant Jayrajsinh Jhala, clerk Mayursinh Gohil, and deputy mamlatdar Chandrasinh Mori after the seizure of ₹67.5 lakh in cash from Mori’s residence and his subsequent arrest.
According to ED sources, Mori could not satisfactorily explain the source of the cash, following which the agency treated the seized cash as proceeds of crime generated through corrupt practices. At the same time, the ED concluded that the cash recovery pointed to an organised method of illegal collections carried out from the collectorate, rather than an isolated act by a single official.
Being the head of the district administration, Patel exercised final authority over land use and other key revenue decisions processed through the collectorate.
ED alleged that the accused collected bribes as “speed money” to expedite applications and that proceeds of crime exceeding ₹1 crore were generated through misuse of official position.
Join Us on WhatsApp