Gujarat IAS Officer Arrested in ₹10 Cr Bribery Scam Over Land Deals
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The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Rajendrakumar Patel, a former collector of Surendranagar district and current Gujarat IAS officer, in a bribery-linked money laundering case. Patel was taken into custody from Gandhinagar on Thursday night and produced before a special court in Ahmedabad on Friday, where he was granted remand till January 7. The case is linked to alleged corruption in the Surendranagar collectorate, where officials allegedly demanded and collected bribes for facilitating revenue and land-related permissions. The ED had initiated a probe last month following inputs that illegal gratification was being collected. During searches at multiple locations, the agency recovered ₹67.5 lakh in cash from the residence of Chandrasinh Mori, a deputy mamlatdar, who was arrested on December 23. Investigators said Mori could not satisfactorily explain the source of the cash, which was treated as proceeds of crime. The ED claims that bribes were allegedly demanded and collected as "speed money" for expediting applications, with amounts pre-fixed and calculated on a per-square-metre basis. The agency also alleged that bribes were taken for routine work by deliberately holding up files and then demanding money to expedite them. According to the ED's remand application, bribes were allegedly collected for change of land use permissions in the Surendranagar district collectorate, with rates fixed at ₹5 to ₹10 per square metre. The agency estimated that over ₹10 crore in bribes were collected, with 50% going to Patel and records maintained in "hisaab" sheets by his personal assistant. The case has sparked a wider investigation, with over 800 change of land use applications being traced. The ED's probe is ongoing, and further arrests are expected in the coming days.
