Raipur, 29 December. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has intensified its investigation into alleged irregularities related to compensation payments during land acquisition for the Raipur-Visakhapatnam economic corridor under the Bharatmala project. On Monday, the ED’s Raipur zonal office conducted searches and seizures at nine premises across Raipur and Mahasamund districts in Chhattisgarh.

The ED action targets allegations of discrepancies in compensation payments made during land acquisition. The searches included locations linked to Harmit Singh Khanuja, his associates, government officials, and landowners involved in the project.

According to the ED’s press release, “The Enforcement Directorate’s Raipur zonal office is conducting searches and seizures at nine premises in Raipur and Mahasamund districts of Chhattisgarh. This operation is part of the investigation into alleged irregularities in compensation payments during land acquisition for the Bharatmala project’s Raipur-Visakhapatnam economic corridor.”

The Bharatmala project is a government initiative aimed at expanding highway corridors and improving logistics connectivity across India. The investigation revealed a fraud amounting to ₹43 crore during the land acquisition process. By dividing land parcels and manipulating records, a total incorrect payment of ₹78 crore was shown to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

A syndicate involving SDMs, patwaris, and land mafias used backdated documents to carry out the fraud. Five officials, including Nirbhay Kumar Sahu, are accused of embezzling over ₹43.18 crore. In the villages of Nayakbandha and Urla in Abhanpur, land mafias colluded with revenue officials to split land into 159 plots, inflating its value from ₹29.5 crore to ₹78 crore. Compensation for a 9.38 km stretch in the Abhanpur belt was initially fixed at ₹324 crore, of which ₹246 crore has been distributed while ₹78 crore remains withheld.

During the state assembly’s winter session, opposition leader Dr. Charandas Mahant raised concerns over the Bharatmala project and demanded a CBI probe. Revenue Minister Tank Ram Verma acknowledged the irregularities and stated that a Raipur Collector-led inquiry begun in August 2022 confirmed the fraud. The investigation also alleged manipulation in ownership transfers and inflated compensation claims by officials.

Consequently, the government has suspended several officials, including Naib Tehsildar Gobra Nawapara Lakeshwar Prasad Kiran and patwaris Jitendra Prasad Sahu, Dinesh Patel, and Lekhram Devangan.