In a major development in the Bharatmala Pariyojana land acquisition scam, the State Economic Offences Investigation and Anti-Corruption Bureau (SEOIACB) has arrested six individuals, including retired and serving government officials, for their role in a Rs100 crore compensation fraud.
Those arrested include retired Amin Gopal Ram Verma and serving Amin Narendra Kumar Nayak from the Water Resources Department, along with four private individuals — Khemraj Kosale, Punuram Deshlahre, Bhojram Sahu, and Kundan Baghel.
The arrests are linked to Crime No. 30/2025, which exposes a well-orchestrated conspiracy from 2020 to 2024. The scam involved fraudulent land acquisition claims under the Vishakhapatnam-Raipur Economic Corridor — part of the Bharatmala project — where already acquired government lands were passed off as private to obtain duplicate compensation.
Amins Verma and Nayak are accused of submitting forged land measurement and demarcation reports, enabling massive payouts to unauthorized individuals. Land parcels were illegally divided, fake ownership documents created, and genuine farmers sidelined in favor of well-connected intermediaries.
Several arrested individuals allegedly took hefty commissions from farmers, promising them assistance in securing inflated compensation through these forged documents.
All six accused were produced before the Special Court (Prevention of Corruption Act) in Raipur, where further custody proceedings are underway.
SEOIACB’s investigation also implicates six absconding revenue officers — including SDO Nirbhay Kumar Sahu, Tehsildar Shashikant Kurre, and Naib Tehsildar Lakheshwar Prasad Kiran. The Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) invoked Section 84 of BNSS 2023 to compel their court appearance on July 29, after failed warrant deliveries.
In an earlier crackdown on April 25, four others — Uma Tiwari, Kedar Tiwari, Harmeet Singh Khanuja, and Vijay Jain — were arrested for a related Rs2 crore fraud from the same FIR, which also involved showing acquired lands as private for duplicate claims.
SEOIACB sources confirm supplementary charge sheets are in progress, with forensic audits of revenue servers and digital land records underway. Potential links to senior bureaucrats and political figures are also being investigated.
