Gandhinagar, Gujarat: Senior IAS officer Rajendra Kumar Patel has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with bribery and money laundering linked to a ₹1,500 crore land scam.
The ED raided Patel’s residence on Friday with three teams, following earlier searches on December 20–21 in Surendranagar district. During the earlier raids, Deputy Tehsildar Chandrasinh Mori’s home yielded over ₹60 lakh in cash hidden in his bedroom.
Investigators found that Patel owned assets far exceeding his declared income, including movable and immovable property worth over ₹5 crore. Patel, a 2015-batch IAS officer from Ahmedabad, was removed from his post as Surendranagar Collector and reassigned to the General Administration Department with limited duties.
The ED investigation revealed systemic corruption in the Collector’s office, including bribes collected from applicants for fast-tracking approvals, calculated per square meter, forming a core part of the land scam.
