Gujarat police on Monday arrested suspended IAS officer Pradeep Sharma for having allegedly caused a Rs 4 crore loss to the state government through a land deal. This is the third case in which Sharma has been implicated.
A land plot had been allotted to Swaminarayan temple in Bhuj when Sharma was collector there in 2005. Police have said Sharma allotted the land at subsidised rates, resulting in the loss.
Sharma has been arrested in Delhi in connection with the Swaminarayan temple land allotment case, acting director general Chitaranjan Singh told HT.
Sharma had earlier been arrested in January last year when he was Bhavnagar municipal commissioner for irregularities in allotting land for 2001 earthquake victims in Kutch during his tenure there as district collector. He was then suspended.
The arrest took place after a private complaint was filed in the court of the chief judicial magistrate in 2006. The case involved allotting 17 acres, valued at more than Rs 70 crore, to 479 affected persons.
Subsequent investigations revealed a large number of those allotted land were not entitled to it. Only the district collector was empowered to issue the certificate of entitlement. Sharma is facing another case pertaining to using mobile SIM cards supplied to him by a private firm.
Subsequent investigations revealed a large number of those allotted land were not entitled to it. Only the district collector was empowered to issue the certificate of entitlement. Sharma is facing another case pertaining to using mobile SIM cards supplied to him by a private firm.