Surendranagar: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested former Surendranagar Collector Dr. Rajendra Patel in connection with the alleged ₹1,500-crore non-agricultural (NA) land conversion scam. Patel was taken into custody after sustained questioning by ED teams at his residence in Gandhinagar as part of the agency’s widening probe into large-scale irregularities in land-use permissions.

The arrest follows raids conducted by the ED on December 23, 2025, at the residences of the then Surendranagar Collector and other senior officials. On the same day, an ED officer lodged a complaint with the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), Surendranagar, against Patel, Deputy Mamlatdar Chandrasinh Mori, collectorate clerk Mayur Gohil, and the collector’s personal assistant Jayrajsinh Zala under anti-corruption laws. Patel was subsequently transferred from his post.

According to the ACB complaint, Deputy Mamlatdar Chandrasinh Mori allegedly accepted bribes amounting to ₹1 crore, with the involvement of the then collector, his clerk, and personal assistant. Investigators also recovered documents purportedly listing the names of middlemen and the amounts to be paid to them.

The case gained momentum after the ED recovered ₹67.50 lakh in cash during a raid at the residence of Deputy Mamlatdar Chandrasinh Mori in Surendranagar district on December 23. The cash, seized under Section 17 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), was found concealed in a bedroom.

In his statement recorded under the PMLA, Mori admitted that the seized money was bribe proceeds collected, either directly or through intermediaries, from applicants seeking speedy or favourable clearance of land NA conversion applications.

In its complaint, ED Director Siddharth Jain stated that the agency had acted on credible source-based inputs indicating large-scale manipulation in land-related approvals by the Surendranagar district administration, prompting coordinated raids and subsequent arrests. DeshGujarat