The suspended IAS officer Pradeep Sharma in Ahmedabad has been arrested by the Anti-Corruption Bureau in Gujrat in a ten years old graft case immediately after he was released from Sabarmati Central Jail on Friday, March 09, 2018 in a money laundering case which is being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate.
A FIR was lodged by the ACB on Friday morning in which it was alleged that Sharma has demanded and accepted INR 25 lakh from a contractor when he was in additional charge of managing director of state-owned ship-building company, Alcock Ashdown (Gujrat) Ltd. in Bhavnagar. He was at first detained from outside the jail for the purpose of questioning regarding the matter, but later that afternoon he was formally arrested, as stated by D.P. Chudasama, Gujrat ACB’s Assistant Commissioner of Police. He also added that during the probe against Sharma, the ED took the statement made by Sahayraj Savirmatthu who informed the officials regarding the alleged bribe taken by Sharma from him to clear pending bills during the time period between 2007 and 2008.
As per the information from the official sources, based on the information passed to the officials by the ED, a case has been registered against the accused IAS officer on Friday morning at Bhavnagar under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act and later he was formally arrested in the afternoon that day. The FIR lodged brought allegation not only regarding the INR 25 lakhs as bribe, but also a certain extension of substantial monetary benefits to the complainant contractor in misuse of Sharma’s power as a government official.
The production of the IAS officer before the ACB Court in Bhavnagar is scheduled on Saturday, as informed by Mr. Chudasama.
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