I acted at behest of my superiors: K Rajesh to CBI

AHMEDABAD: The 2011-cadre IAS officer, K Rajesh, who is in the custody of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a graft case involving issuance of gun licences, has told investigators, “...I acted at the behest of my superiors”. This was confirmed by highly placed sources in the central agency. Rajesh was the Surendranagar collector between April 2018 and May 2021.
The source in the CBI told TOI, “Rajesh was arrested on Wednesday night, and is on remand since Thursday. We have been grilling him on the procedures he followed before granting the gun licences to private individuals.”
Rajesh has constantly maintained that he acted according to the norms and that he was “taking instructions” and “guidance from his superiors,” while diverting money into the district collector’s account, added the source. Asked who “the superior(s)” were, Rajesh evaded the question. The CBI official said, “Rajesh has been dodging the question, refusing to identify his superiors.
‘Rajesh not cooperating in interrogation’
He maintains that he cannot reveal their names as it is an ‘official secret’, while on the other hand, he claims that all facts are in public domain.” Sources in the agency said that Rajesh, a joint secretary in the general administration department (GAD) of the state government, had issued 101 weapon licences illegally despite negative recommendations from the district superintendent of police (DSP) of Surendranagar between April 2018 and May 2021.
He has not been cooperating in the interrogation carried out by the team from CBI Delhi, said sources. The CBI FIR filed on May 18 also mentions that a Surendranagar resident, Mathur Sakaria, had allegedly paid a bribe of Rs 4 lakh to Rajesh for a weapon licence. On May 19, the CBI arrested a middleman named Rafiq Memon from Surat, who allegedly helped Rajesh in various allegedly illicit transactions. The agency officers said that Rajesh used to instruct the applicants seeking arms licences to deposit the bribe money in Memon’s account.
According to the officers, Rajesh had issued 271 arms licences during his tenure. Of these, 38 were issued to government servants working under the Surendranagar district collector. One licence was
issued to the son of a senior politician.