Raipur, 29 December 2026 : The investigation into alleged irregularities in land acquisition compensation in the Raipur-Vishakhapatnam Economic Corridor built under the Bharatmala project in Chhattisgarh has intensified. A search operation was conducted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) at a total of 9 places in Raipur and Mahasamund districts on Monday. In this action, the hideouts of land mafia, government officials and middlemen have been targeted.
Bharatmala project is an ambitious project of the Government of India, whose objective is to connect 550 district centers of the country with 4-lane highways and to accelerate the movement of goods. However, huge scams have come to light in compensation payments during land acquisition in Raipur and Mahasamund belt.
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Investigation has revealed that with the connivance of SDM, Patwari and land mafia, the land was divided into pieces and old documents were created. National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) received an estimated Rs. Wrong compensation of Rs 78 crore was shown to have been paid, out of which Rs. Fraud worth Rs 43 crore has been confirmed. The land in Nayakbandha and Urla villages of Abhanpur was divided into 159 plots, due to which the valuation of the land was Rs. 29.5 crores directly increased to Rs. It had become Rs 78 crore.
ED’s investigation is going on at the residences and offices of industrialist Harmeet Singh Khanuja, his associates and senior government officials. In this case, there are serious allegations against the officers including Nirbhay Kumar Sahu. After earlier investigation, the state government has suspended the employees including Naib Tehsildar Lakheshwar Prasad Kiran and Patwari Jitendra Prasad Sahu.
During the winter session of the State Assembly, Leader of the Opposition Dr. Charandas Mahante had raised the issue of this scam and demanded a CBI investigation. On the other hand, Revenue Minister Tank Ram Verma had admitted that the collector’s investigation had confirmed fraud and strict action was being taken against those responsible.
Under the Bharatmala project, the target is to increase the existing 6 corridors to 50 and prepare 8,000 km of inter-corridor routes. But due to such corruption cases, questions are being raised against the transparency of the project.
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