ED attaches assets worth Rs. 5.92 crores in illegal allotment of govt and case of Gujarat

BW Online Bureau May 01, 2025

Pradeep Sharma, in connivance with other revenue officials, was involved in cheating and illegal allotment of valuable government land by leveraging his position as the District Collector of Bhuj, Gujarat : ED

New Delhi, May 1

Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has attached immovable assets worth Rs. 5.92 Crore, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in connection with a case against Pradeep Sharma retired IAS officer, Sanjay Shah and others.

The assets include immovable properties in the form of plots worth Rs. 5.92 Crore located in Bhuj, Kutch, Gujarat, ED informed.

ED initiated a money laundering investigation on the basis of the FIR registered by the CID, Crime Branch, Border Zone, Bhuj, Gujarat, for cheating and criminal breach of trust.

ED investigation revealed that Pradeep Sharma, in connivance with other revenue officials, was involved in cheating and illegal allotment of valuable government land by leveraging his position as the District Collector of Bhuj, Gujarat. He disregarded various government resolutions and allotted the land illegally to one Sanjay Shah, which caused an undue loss to the Gujarat Government.

Sanjay Shah later developed the said land into residential plots and generated further Proceeds of Crime (POC). Accordingly, ED conducted an investigation, which established the trail of POC generated Sanjay Shah.