ED arrests Gujarat IAS officer in money laundering case

The Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) Headquarters Investigation Unit (HIU), Delhi recently arrested Gujarat cadre IAS officer Rajendra Mahendra Patel, a former District Collector of Surendranagar, in connection with a case registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

Patel, a 2015-batch officer, was taken into custody from his residence in Surendranagar district and later produced before a Special PMLA court in Ahmedabad (Rural). The court remanded him to the ED’s custody for five days, till 5 pm on January 7.

Special Public Prosecutor Anirudh Kamboj, appearing for the ED said that the agency had sought a 10-day remand, but the court granted custody for five days.

The arrest comes close on the heels of the ED’s action against a deputy mamlatdar (revenue official), who was arrested last week and remained in ED custody for seven days until January 1, after which he was sent to judicial custody.

The case has its origins in a zero FIR registered on December 23, 2025, under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act at the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) police station in Ahmedabad.

Based on this, a regular FIR was subsequently registered at the ACB police station in Surendranagar. The ED thereafter recorded an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) and initiated a probe into alleged money laundering.

According to the ED, the allegations relate to corruption in “change of land use” (CLU) applications and the laundering of proceeds of crime through their generation, possession, acquisition, concealment and distribution.

Patel was transferred without a posting on December 24, 2025, a day after the ED arrested deputy mamlatdar Chandrasingh Mori from his office in connection with the same money laundering case linked to alleged bribery.

The central agency is probing an alleged money laundering racket involving Mori and others. As deputy mamlatdar, Mori was responsible for title verification and processing of CLU applications under the Saurashtra Gharkhed Tenancy Settlement and Agricultural Lands Ordinance, 1949.

The ED has alleged that Mori misused his official position to collect bribes from applicants in return for expediting approvals, with the bribe amount allegedly calculated on a per square metre basis.