Raipur, 29 December. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Chhattisgarh on Monday took major action in connection with the investigation into alleged irregularities related to compensation payment in land acquisition for the Raipur-Vishakhapatnam Economic Corridor under the Bharatmala Project. Search and seizure action is being conducted by ED’s Raipur zonal office at a total of 9 premises in Raipur and Mahasamund districts. This action of ED is being taken as part of the investigation into the allegations in which irregularities have been raised in the payment of compensation during land acquisition.
The scope of the search operation includes locations linked to Harmeet Singh Khanuja, his associates, concerned government officials and land owners. The press note issued by the ED said, “Search and seizure action is being conducted by the ED, Raipur Zonal Office, on a total of nine premises in Raipur and Mahasamund, Chhattisgarh. This action is being taken in connection with the investigation of alleged irregularities related to compensation payment in the land acquisition for the Raipur-Vishakhapatnam Economic Corridor under the Bharatmala Project.”
Let us tell you that Bharatmala Project is a project of the Government of India. Its objective is to connect 550 district headquarters (from present 300) with at least 4-lane highways through 50 corridors (from present six) and to bring 80 per cent of freight traffic (present 40 per cent) on national highways by connecting 24 logistics parks, 66 inter-corridors totaling 8,000 km and 116 feeder routes totaling 7,500 km. Was. In the investigation of this entire matter, it came to light that a fraud of Rs 43 crore was revealed in the land acquisition process. By dividing land parcels and falsifying records, a total wrong payment to the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) was shown to be Rs 78 crore. A syndicate of SDM, Patwaris and land mafia committed this fraud through old dated documents.
The accused include five officials, including Nirbhay Kumar Sahu, who is accused of embezzling more than Rs 43.18 crore. In Nayakbandha and Urla villages of Abhanpur, land mafia along with revenue officials divided the land into 159 plots, due to which its valuation increased from Rs 29.5 crore to Rs 78 crore. The compensation for the 9.38 km stretch in the Abhanpur belt was initially fixed at Rs 324 crore, of which Rs 246 crore has been distributed, while Rs 78 crore is still withheld. During the winter session of the state assembly, leader of opposition Dr. Charandas Mahant expressed concern over the Bharatmala project and demanded a CBI inquiry.
Revenue Minister Tank Ram Verma admitted the irregularities and said that the Raipur Collector’s investigation, started in August 2022, has confirmed the fraud. The investigation accused officials of rigging ownership transfers and inflating compensation claims. As a result, the government suspended several officials, including Naib Tehsildar Gobra Navapara Lakheshwar Prasad Kiran and Patwari Jitendra Prasad Sahu, Dinesh Patel and Lekhram Dewangan.
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