CBI conducts searches at Gujarat IAS officer’s premises in bribery case, arrests his aide

PTI, May 20, 2022, 2:18 PM IST

Ahmedabad: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted searches at the residence and other premises of Gujarat cadre IAS officer K Rajesh in connection with the allegations of bribery against him, the agency said on Friday. The searches were conducted late Thursday night at the bureaucrat’s residence in Gandhinagar and some other premises in Surat as well as at his native place in Andhra Pradesh, the CBI said in a statement. Mohammed Rafiq Memon, who acted as the IAS officer’s middleman and who used to collect bribe money for him, has been arrested from Surat, it said.

Rajesh, a 2011-batch IAS officer, currently serves as the joint secretary in the General Administration Department of the Gujarat government in Gandhinagar.

Recently, the CBI had received a complaint that when he was the collector of Surendranagar district, Rajesh had allegedly taken bribes in land deals and in sanctioning weapon licenses to ineligible persons, the central agency added. The bribe money was used to reach him via his middleman Memon, a merchant based in Surat, the CBI said.