ED gets custody of jailed IAS officer K Rajesh in bribery case

The accused were handed over to the central probe agency as directed by the special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Ahmedabad on Friday

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday got custody of suspended Gujarat-cadre IAS officer K Rajesh, who was earlier arrested along with co-accused Rafiq Meman by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in an alleged bribery case.

The accused were handed over to the central probe agency as directed by the special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Ahmedabad on Friday.

Special public prosecutor Sudhir Gupta said that the ED had taken custody of Rajesh and the co-accused for twenty-four hours. “If further custody is needed, we will approach the special PMLA court tomorrow for the same,” said Gupta.

The CBI filed a charge sheet against Rajesh for accepting bribes for issuing arms licences to ineligible people.

Last month, the CBI filed a charge sheet against Rajesh for taking bribes for issuing arms licences, allotment of government land to ineligible beneficiaries and grant of other illegal favours when he was the collector of Surendranagar.

The CBI arrested the 2011 batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre in July when he was serving as joint secretary in the General Administration Department of the Gujarat government. In May, the CBI had arrested a middleman called Rafiq Memon from Surat, who allegedly collected bribes on his behalf.

The alleged corruption charges against him surfaced in January 2021 when an Ahmedabad-based businessman filed a complaint with the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), alleging that a bribe had been sought from him by the Surendranagar district collector for a weapon licence.

Soon after the corruption charges were levelled against him, Rajesh was transferred as the joint secretary, law and order, in the state home department and within a week, he was posted to the GAD department in June 2021.