EOW files first chargesheet against 10 accused in Bharatmala project scam in Chhattisgarh

Raipur, Oct 13 (PTI) The Chhattisgarh Economic Offence Wing (EOW) on Monday filed a chargesheet against 10 persons over alleged frauds in the distribution of compensation for land acquired for a Bharatmala road project in Raipur between 2020 and 2024.

The 7500-page chargesheet was filed before a special court here against public servants Gopal Ram Verma and Narendra Kumar Nayak as well as private individuals Uma Tiwari, her husband Kedar Tiwari, Harmeet Singh Khanuja, Vijay Kumar Jain, Khemraj Koshle, Punuram Deshlahare, Bhojram Sahu and Kundan Baghel, an EOW statement said.

It is the first chargesheet in the case in which the state agency has mentioned about its probe in the matter in three different segments.

In first case, the EOW investigated the fraud in partition, ownership transfer and other revenue process during the land acquisition of Nayakbandha, Tokro and Urla villagers for the Raipur Bharatmala Project (Raipur-Visakhapatnam economic corridor) in connivance with the Revenue Department officials and land brokers to obtain higher compensation, the statement said.

It caused a loss of Rs 28 crore to the state exchequer, the EOW statement said.

The investigation into the second case suggested the government suffered a loss of more than Rs 2 crore due to re-payment of compensation for already acquired land in Nayankbandha village for a water reservoir, it added.

"Similarly in the third case, the government incurred a loss of more than Rs 2 crore due to compensation received in the name of Uma Tiwari through fake documents for the acquisition of land owned by other people." the statement said.

It has been assessed that the government suffered a total loss of approximately Rs 32 crore, as per the EOW.

The EOW investigation also revealed that some officials of the Revenue Department, in connivance with broker Harmeet Singh Khanuja and his associates, lured farmers with the promise of "providing them more compensation". They prepared fake demarcation and backdated name transfer deeds and also got farmers to sign on blank cheques and RTGS forms.

"Then the brokers transferred a major portion of the compensation amount received to their own accounts and those of associate firms. Public servants Narendra Nayak and Gopal Verma, along with other co-accused, suppressed pre-acquisition records related to submergence area and prepared false reports related to Nayakbandha water reservoir case," it said.

Nirbhay Sahu (then Sub-Divisional Officer, Revenue, Abhanpur), Dinesh Patel (Patwari), Roshan Lal Verma (Revenue Inspector), Shashikant Kurre (then Tehsildar), Jitendra Sahu (then Patwari No. 49, Nayakbandha), Basanti Ghritalhare (then Patwari), Lakheshwar Prasad Kiran (then Nayab Tehsildar, Gobra Navapara) and Lekhram Devangan (Patwari), who are accused in the case, are absconding and not cooperating in the investigation after getting relief from court, the release said.

This has affected the collection of evidences related to probe into criminal conspiracy, misuse of official position and illegal gain, the release said.

"Therefore, further investigations are underway against them, and a separate chargesheet will be filed regarding their role. A large amount of documents related to the case are currently being examined and analysed to determine the overall financial fraud committed against the government, and the involvement of other officials and brokers," the EOW release said.

A detailed investigation is underway into irregularities in the land acquisition process in other villages involved in the project, where the involvement of Harmeet Singh Khanuja and other accused has again come to light, it added. PTI COR TKP BNM