Chhattisgarh&rsquo;s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) and Economic Offences Wing (EOW) on Monday filed their first chargesheet against 10 individuals for allegedly embezzling ₹32 crore in land compensation related to the Bharatmala road project corridor between Raipur and Visakhapatnam from 2020 to 2024.
The Opposition Congress had earlier flagged irregularities in the matter, claiming that over ₹350 crore might have been misappropriated across the project and demanding a CBI probe. 
Leader of Opposition Charan Das Mahant had raised the issue in the Vidhan Sabha in March, stating: &ldquo;This involves central government funds and possibly some state funds. Many senior officials are implicated, and even 2-3 political leaders may be involved. This must be investigated by the CBI.&rdquo;
The case, however, was handed over to the EOW/ACB, which had registered an FIR earlier this year and arrested 10 individuals &mdash; two government employees and eight brokers &mdash; for forgery involving compensation for land from three villages.
On Monday, the EOW submitted a chargesheet in court against two revenue employees of the Water Resources Department, Gopal Ram Verma (Retired) and Narendra Kumar Nayak, along with eight brokers: Uma Tiwari, Kedar Tiwari, Harmeet Singh Khanuja, Vijay Kumar Jain, Khemraj Koshle, Punuram Deshlahare, Bhojram Sahu, and Kundan Baghel.
An EOW official explained the alleged modus operandi: &ldquo;In one village, the accused created backdated forged documents to divide and transfer land ownership, resulting in an excess compensation of ₹28 crore. In the second village, ₹2 crore was paid for land already acquired by the government. In a third instance, forged documents showed land transferred to Uma Tiwari, leading to ₹2 crore being paid to her.&rdquo;
The official added, &ldquo;Our investigation also found that some revenue officials, in collusion with private broker Harmeet Singh Khanuja and his associates, lured farmers with promises of higher compensation. These brokers, together with the officials, committed forgery in land deeds and diverted a significant portion of the compensation to their own accounts and associated firms.&rdquo;

Officials examining documents in land fraud case

Chhattisgarh EOW files first chargesheet against 10 for land compensation fraud

Rs 32 Crore Embezzled In Raipur Road Case

Chhattisgarh EOW files first chargesheet against 10 for land compensation fraud

October 14, 2025 | 16:35 IST