A Chhattisgarh revenue official has been arrested for his alleged role in a multi-crore road project compensation scam, highlighting corruption in land acquisition processes.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau/Economic Offence Wing (ACB/EOW) of Chhattisgarh on Tuesday arrested a suspended revenue department official in the alleged Bharatmala road project compensation scam.
The agency had last year registered a case over an alleged fraud in demarcation, mutation, transfer of land ownership and other revenue processes in some villages of Abhanpur area during land acquisition for the Raipur-Visakhapatnam economic corridor in 2021-22. The fraud caused a loss of Rs 32 crore to the exchequer, it said.
Nirbhay Kumar Sahu, Sub-Divisional Officer (Revenue) and Competent Authority for Land Acquisition in Abhanpur, was one of the prime accused and had been absconding.
According to the ACB/EOW, Sahu, along with others, manipulated official records by backdating entries to subdivide land parcels affected by the Raipur -Visakhapatnam and Durg Bypass road projects in villages such as Nayakbandha, Ugetara, Urla, Bhelwadih and Tokro in Abhanpur tehsil.
This enabled disbursal of compensation amounts several times higher than the actual entitlement.
In another serious irregularity, land that had already been acquired for the Nayakbandha Reservoir was allegedly shown as newly acquired under the Bharatmala project, resulting in double compensation payments.
Sahu had earlier approached the Supreme Court seeking bail, but his plea was rejected.
In October last year, the ACB/EOW filed its first charge sheet in the case, naming 10 accused, including two public servants who were earlier arrested in the case.