The Enforcement Directorate (ED)’s zonal office began a raid and seizure action at nine premises in Chhattisgarh’s capital Raipur and neighbouring Mahasamund district Monday in connection with the alleged Bharatmala project scam.
The agency is probing into alleged irregularities in the payment of compensation for the acquisition of land for the Raipur-Visakhapatnam economic corridor under the Bharatmala project, a centrally funded road and highway development programme.
The searches cover premises linked to land broker Harmit Singh Khanuja, his associates, government officials and landowners.
On April 25 this year, Chhattisgarh’s Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB)/Economic Offences Wing (EOW) conducted raids at 20 locations across the state.
Following interrogation, the agency arrested land broker Uma Tiwari and her husband Kedar Tiwari were arrested for allegedly illegally receiving Rs 2 crore in compensation belonging to another person. They later arrested Khanuja for allegedly aiding Tiwari in illegally obtaining compensation funds and siphoning funds meant for several farmers.
In October this year, the state agency filed its first chargesheet against 10 people for allegedly embezzling Rs 32 crore from the compensation given for the land acquisition in the Bharatmala road project corridor from Raipur to Visakhapatnam between 2020 and 2024.
The Opposition Congress MLAs raised the issue in the Assembly in March, demanding an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Back then, Leader of Opposition Charan Das Mahant said, “This is the Central government’s funds, and there may also be some state funds. If you calculate all the roads of the project, then over Rs 350 crore more has been paid (to beneficiaries). It is a big issue. Many senior officials are involved. I have no hesitation in saying that two to three party leaders may be involved. My only request to the chief minister and the minister is that the CBI must probe this.”
The case, however, was handed over to the EOW/ACB, which earlier this year registered an FIR and arrested 10 people, including two government officials and eight brokers, for forgery related to three villages.
The chargesheet was filed in court against two revenue employees in the Water Resources Department: Gopal Ram Verma (Retired) and Narendra Kumar Nayak; and eight brokers: Uma Tiwari, Kedar Tiwari, Harmeet Singh Khanuja, Vijay Kumar Jain, Khemraj Koshle, Punuram Deshlahare, Bhojram Sahu and Kundan Baghel.
Explaining the modus operandi, an EOW official then said, “In one village, the accused created backdated forged documents which were used to divide and transfer the land ownership, due to which an excess compensation of Rs 28 crore was given. In the second village, Rs 2 crore was spent on paying compensation for land which was already acquired by the government. In the third case, forged papers were made to show that land was transferred to one Uma Tiwari and Rs 2 crore was paid to her.”
“The investigation also established that some revenue department officials, in collusion with private broker Harmeet Singh Khanuja and his associates, lured farmers with the promise of higher compensation. These brokers, in collusion with revenue officials, committed forgery in land deeds and further transferred a significant portion of the compensation received to their own accounts and those of their affiliated firms,” the official added.