Ahmedabad, Jan 5 (PTI) The Gujarat government has suspended IAS officer and former Surendranagar collector Rajendrakumar Patel following his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a bribery-linked money laundering case, officials said on Monday.
The ED arrested Patel, a 2015-batch IAS officer, on January 2. The same day, a special PMLA court here remanded him in the ED’s custody till January 7.
The state General Administration Department (GAD), in an order issued on Sunday, stated that Patel has been suspended because his “period under custody is exceeding forty-eight hours”.
“Now, therefore, Patel is deemed to have been placed under suspension with effect from January 2 in terms of sub-rule 2 of rule 3 of the All India Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1969 until further orders,” the order stated.
Patel, who last served as the collector of Surendranagar, was transferred without posting last month following the arrest of deputy mamlatdar (revenue officer) Chandrasingh Mori from the latter’s office by the ED in a money laundering case stemming from bribery.
Later, ED arrested Patel also on January 2.
The federal agency is investigating alleged money laundering involving Patel, Mori, and others after registering an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
According to the ED, Patel had allegedly fixed bribe rates ranging from Rs 5 to Rs 10 per square metre for approving change of land use (CLU) applications.
Bribes were systematically demanded and collected as “speed money” to expedite CLU applications and routed through a network of intermediaries operating from the district collector’s office in Gujarat, the ED had stated in its remand application submitted before the special PMLA court.
A “hisaab” (accounts) of bribe collections was maintained and periodically transmitted to the district collector’s personal assistant, as per the digital evidence.
Investigations have so far traced more than 800 CLU applications where bribes were allegedly paid, resulting in the generation of proceeds of crime exceeding Rs 10 crore, which is part of the larger proceeds of crime.
The ED stated that Patel was the key beneficiary and final decision-maker in the bribery-linked money laundering racket involving CLU approvals.
Patel, as the district collector at the relevant time, was the ultimate authority for granting CLU approvals under the Saurashtra Gharkhed, Tenancy Settlement and Agricultural Lands Ordinance, 1949, and the Gujarat Land Revenue Code, 1879, it said.
His position enabled him to control and influence the pace and outcome of CLU applications. PTI PJT PD GK
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