ED arrests IAS officer from Gujarat in bribery-linked money laundering case

An IAS officer and former Collector of Gujarat’s Surendranagar district, Rajendrakumar Patel, has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a bribery-linked money laundering case, officials said on Friday (January 2, 2026).

A senior police official said the ED took Mr. Patel into custody as part of its ongoing probe into alleged money laundering arising from bribery.

Mr. Patel, a 2015-batch IAS officer, was serving as the Surendranagar Collector until he was transferred without a new posting last week. The transfer came days after the ED arrested a deputy mamlatdar from Mr. Patel’s office in the same case.

The Central agency is probing alleged money laundering involving the deputy mamlatdar, Chandrasingh Mori, and others, following the registration of an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The Gujarat Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has also registered an FIR against Mr. Patel and three others based on a complaint filed by the ED in connection with the case.

According to the ED, Mr. Mori, while serving as deputy mamlatdar, was responsible for title verification and processing change of land use (CLU) applications under the Saurashtra Gharkhed Tenancy Settlement and Agricultural Lands Ordinance, 1949.

Investigators allege that Mr. Mori misused his official position by demanding and collecting bribes from applicants in return for expediting approvals. The bribe amounts were allegedly calculated on a per square metre basis, the agency had said earlier.

(With inputs from PTI)