IAS Pradeep Sharma arrested in connection with a money laundering case

NEW DELHI: Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Sunday arrested suspended Gujarat-cadre IAS Officer Pradeep Sharma in connection with a money laundering case. According to ED, Sharma had been booked under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act ( PMLA) based on an FIR of the Gujarat CID.

He was arrested after he reached the office of the ED here for interrogation. Sharma, a 1984-batch officer, according to ED was not cooperating with the investigators and his custodial interrogation was necessary. The move comes following the SC decision not to stay his arrest after the ED filed an affidavit seeking his arrest in the case.

The case pertains to sanction of government land in Bhuj for industrial use to Welspun India. Sharma had earlier filed a petition in the SC alleging that he was being victimised by the then Narendra Modi government in Gujarat and had sought a CBI inquiry into the cases against him. However, the Supreme Court had rejected his application.