ED arrests Gujarat IAS officer in PMLA case

THE HEADQUARTERS Investigation Unit (HIU) of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Delhi, on Friday arrested IAS officer Rajendra Mahendra Patel, a former District Collector of Surendranagar, from his residence in the district in connection with a case registered recently under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.

Later in the day, the 2015-batch officer was produced in a Special PMLA court in Ahmedabad (Rural) that remanded him in the ED’s custody for five days.

Anirudh Kamboj, Special Public Prosecutor appearing for the ED, told The Indian Express, “We sought 10-day remand but the court granted five days’ custody… till 5 pm on January 7.”

This comes a week after a deputy mamlatdar (revenue official) was arrested and remained in ED remand for seven days which ended on January 1, following which he was sent to judicial custody.

On December 23, 2025, a zero FIR was filed under sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act at the ACB police station in Ahmedabad, on the basis of which an FIR was registered at the ACB police station in Surendranagar.

Subsequently, an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) was recorded by the ED which began its investigation into money laundering.

The accusations pertain to  alleged corruption in “change of land use” applications, as well as money laundering as part of the accusations of generation, possession, acquisition, concealment and sharing of “proceeds of crime”.

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

The central agency is investigating an alleged money laundering racket involving Mori and others, following the registration of an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

As deputy mamlatdar, Mori was entrusted with the title verification and processing of CLU (change of land use) applications under the Saurashtra Gharkhed Tenancy Settlement and Agricultural Lands Ordinance, 1949.

Mori allegedly misused his position and collected bribes from applicants for speedy approval of applications. The bribe amount was calculated on a square metre basis, the ED said earlier.