AHMEDABAD: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officers probing corruption charges against the 2011-batch IAS officer K Rajesh found that he had issued 101 weapon licences illegally despite negative recommendations from the district superintendent of police during April 2018 and May 2021.
Sources in the central agency also said that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) may also be roped in for investigation if the probe reveals hawala transactions by Rajesh.
"When we registered the complaint, there were 39 licences issued illegally by the then Surendranagar district collector K Rajesh. However, the inquiry has found at least 101 licences issued by him despite negative recommendations by the district SP," said a CBI officer.
The officer said that all the licences must have been issued in exchange for money. The CBI FIR filed on May 18 also mentioned that a Surendranagar resident, Mathur Sakaria, had to allegedly pay a bribe of Rs 4 lakh to Rajesh to get a weapon licence.
According to the officers, Rajesh had issued 271 arms licences during his tenure. Of these, 38 were issued to government servants working under Surendranagar district collector. One licence was issued to the son of a senior politician, who shared close relations with a former Gujarat minister. Another CBI officer said, "As the arms licences were issued after taking bribes, it needs to be checked who the beneficiaries were and if they had indulged in illegal activities using those licences."
The CBI officers will also check the accounts of these illegal beneficiaries to find out if they had transferred money into the bank account of Surendranagar district collector while taking the licence from Rajesh.
The officers will also probe if they paid the money to an alleged middleman named Rafiq Memon from Surat who had allegedly accepted bribes on behalf of Rajesh.
