Ahmedabad: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a prosecution complaint before the Ahmedabad Rural Court against former Surendranagar district collector Rajendrakumar Patel and five other officials in connection with an alleged land conversion bribery and money laundering case.

Following the filing of the prosecution complaint, the former district collector withdrew his bail plea from a special court under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). His counsel submitted that since the ED had filed the prosecution complaint while the bail application was pending, the defence required time to examine the case documents. Patel sought permission to withdraw the plea, reserving liberty to file a fresh bail application at a later stage. Special Judge K.M. Sojitra allowed the request and permitted withdrawal of the plea.

Those named in the complaint include deputy mamlatdar Chandrasinh Mori, resident additional collector R.K. Oza, clerk Mayursinh Dilipsinh Gohil, mamlatdar Mayur Balvantray Dave, and Jayrajsinh Harpalsinh Zala.

District Judge K.M. Sojitra of the Ahmedabad Rural Court has issued process against the accused and posted the matter for hearing on March 5.

The ED had earlier arrested Rajendrakumar Patel and Chandrasinh Mori, who are currently lodged in Sabarmati jail. The remaining accused have not been arrested so far.

Alleged Bribery Racket in Land Use Conversion

According to the ED, a systematic bribery racket was allegedly operating in the Surendranagar collectorate for granting non-agricultural (NA) status and change of land use (CLU) approvals.

The agency stated that arrested deputy mamlatdar and executive magistrate Chandrasinh Mori allegedly disclosed that 50% of the bribe amount was taken by the collector, 10% by himself, and the remaining share distributed among other officials in the district collector’s office. This allegedly included 25% for resident additional collector R.K. Oza, 10% for mamlatdar Mayur Dave, and 5% for clerk Mayursinh Gohil.

The ED further alleged that Patel’s personal assistant collected bribe money on his behalf and subsequently handed it over to him.

During the probe, the ED reportedly examined around 800 land-related files and found evidence suggesting that bribes amounting to approximately ₹10 crore were collected.

Seizures and Digital Evidence

The ED stated that documents indicating bribe payments linked to land-use change applications were recovered during the investigation. From Patel’s premises, officials seized 12 electronic devices, including a hard disk, mobile phones, a laptop, and pen drives. Crucial data was reportedly found on one of the pen drives.

The alleged modus operandi involved collecting “speed money” to ensure that applications for land conversion were processed without delay. The ED claimed that a structured mechanism was in place within the collector’s office to facilitate illegal approvals under the CLU process in exchange for bribes.

The agency also examined entries on the state’s online IORA portal for NA approvals and found what it described as incriminating records linked to nearly 800 land files. Further investigation is underway.