<div><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Troubles have increased for former Rajkot Municipal Corporation town planning officer, Mansukh Sagathiya, after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) confirmed that it filed a prosecution complaint against him and two others before the special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Ahmedabad on November 24.&nbsp;</span></div>
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<div><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The complaint arises from a money-laundering probe linked to allegations that he amassed assets far beyond his known sources of income during his tenure as a public servant.</span></div>
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<div><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Sagathiya has already been under intense scrutiny for his alleged role in the TRP Game Zone fire in Rajkot, where 27 people died on May 25 last year.&nbsp;</span></div>
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<div><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Investigators have maintained that the gaming facility was operating without mandatory permissions and had been granted irregular clearances. He and others were accused of manipulating official records to conceal violations, including fabricating backdated letters and replacing registers to create a paper trail suggesting that applications and queries had been processed legitimately.</span></div>
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<div><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;">According to the ED, the current case stems from an FIR lodged by the Gujarat Anti-Corruption Bureau, accusing Sagathiya of acquiring Rs 24.31 crore in disproportionate assets between April 2012 and May 2024.&nbsp;</span></div>
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<div><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The agency&rsquo;s investigation found that he maintained several recurring deposit accounts at the Rajkot Head Post Office in the names of his wife Bhavna and son Keyur from February 2015 to June 2022.&nbsp;</span></div>
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<div><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The ED stated that &ldquo;regular deposits in the said RD accounts were made in cash&rdquo; and that the maturity amounts from these deposits were later channelled into the purchase of immovable properties.</span></div>
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<div><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The agency said its investigation established that Sagathiya allegedly invested suspected proceeds of crime in a range of movable and immovable assets while using bank accounts held by his family members to circulate and disguise the funds.&nbsp;</span></div>
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<div><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;">In April this year, the ED attached assets worth Rs 21.61 crore under Section 5 of the PMLA, including cash, gold, diamonds, silver ornaments, foreign currency, luxury watches and several real estate holdings.</span></div>
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<div><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Findings submitted earlier by the Anti-Corruption Bureau included an 800-page chargesheet asserting that Sagathiya&rsquo;s total wealth stood at approximately Rs 28 crore, a figure it said was more than a thousand per cent higher than his legitimate income of Rs 2.57 crore.&nbsp;</span></div>
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<div><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;">A search of his office in Nana Mauva in 2024 reportedly uncovered valuables valued at Rs 18 crore.&nbsp;</span></div>
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<div><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The ACB also documented ownership of two petrol pumps, a warehouse, an under-construction hotel, a farmhouse, agricultural land and multiple residential plots and flats in Rajkot and Ahmedabad, along with records of foreign travel.</span></div>

Booked in TRP Game Zone Fire Incident, ED Attaches Rs 21.61 Cr Linked to Sagathiya

ED Files PMLA Case Against Ex-Rajkot TPO

Booked in TRP Game Zone Fire Incident, ED Attaches Rs 21.61 Cr Linked to Sagathiya

November 28, 2025 | 15:52 IST