ED locks Rs 6 crore assets in probe against ex-Gujarat IAS officer

NEW DELHI: In a money laundering probe against former Gujarat IAS officer Pradeep Sharma , the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday said it has attached assets worth about Rs 6 crore in Gujarat's Bhuj. Sharma, in connivance with other revenue officials, was allegedly involved in cheating and illegal allotment of valuable govt land by then leveraging his position as Bhuj district collector, ED said.

Sharma's associate Sanjay Shah is another accused in the case. The attached properties are plots worth Rs 5.9 crore located in Bhuj.

The ED's money laundering probe is based on an FIR registered by the Crime Branch, Border Zone, Bhuj

Disclosing involvement of Sharma when he was district collector, ED said he disregarded various govt resolutions and allotted land illegally to Shah, which caused an undue loss to Gujarat govt. "Shah later developed the land into residential plots and generated further proceeds of crime," ED claimed, adding its probe further established trail of proceeds of crime generated by Shah. The same was attached on April 25, it said.