Ahmedabad: A special PMLA court on Thursday rejected the bail application of IAS officer Rajendrakumar Patel, who is accused of money laundering and corruption during his tenure as Surendranagar collector.

Patel was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on January 2 after the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) registered an FIR against him and others for allegedly demanding bribes to process applications related to change of land use.

The 2015-batch IAS officer sought bail, claiming he had maintained a clean service record for the past 10 years. His lawyer argued that no prima facie evidence was found against him and that his name surfaced only due to alleged links with co-accused persons. The defence also claimed that the ED acted with bias and deliberately targeted Patel, adding that the alleged NA permission scam existed even before his posting as collector. It was further submitted that no incriminating material was recovered from him and that the claims about his wealth were fabricated.

Opposing the plea, Special Public Prosecutor Anirudh Kamboj told the court that ₹67.5 lakh in cash was recovered from Patel’s subordinate, along with a “hisaab sheet” that allegedly recorded bribes collected while processing applications for change of land use.

The prosecution also informed the court that Patel had searched on Google for “how to reset Samsung S24 Ultra” shortly before his arrest, which, according to investigators, indicated an attempt to destroy digital evidence.

Special Judge K. M. Sojitra observed that the hisaab sheet suggested Patel received more than ₹3.12 crore as his 50% share of the alleged bribe amount. The court noted that, considering the complaint, case records, investigating officer’s affidavit, hisaab sheets, WhatsApp records shared among the accused, and statements recorded under Section 50 of the PMLA, it could not form a prima facie opinion that the accused was not involved in money laundering. Accordingly, the court denied bail. DeshGujarat