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MP: Anti-graft group seeks probe into bureaucrats' land purchases near Western Bypass project
MP: Anti-graft group seeks probe into bureaucrats' land purchases near Western Bypass project
Bhopal, An anti-corruption outfit in Madhya Pradesh has demanded a high-level probe into land deals around the proposed ₹3,200-crore Bhopal Western Bypass, alleging that senior IAS and IPS officers acquired plots along the route months before the project's approval, with their value skyrocketing within a few years.
The System Parivartan Abhiyan has written to Chief Minister Mohan Yadav seeking the immediate cancellation of the 35-km project, claiming its alignment was altered three times, but it continued to benefit bureaucrats.
SPA president Azad Singh Dabas, in a letter to the chief minister, alleged that the bypass project was being used to benefit senior officials.
"Our crusade against corruption is a campaign for administrative, judicial, police and media accountability," Dabas, a retired Indian Forest Services officer, told PTI.
The SPA cited media reports claiming that around 50 IAS and IPS officers from different states purchased 2.023 hectares of agricultural land in Guradi Ghat village in Bhopal's Kolar area through a single registry document on April 4, 2022.
The outfit has alleged that the land was purchased for ₹5.5 crore, when its market value at the time was ₹7.78 crore.
Approval for the 35-km Western Bypass project was granted on August 31, 2023, around 16 months after this land purchase. Subsequently, the land use was changed from agricultural to residential in June 2024, Dabas alleged.
According to SPA, the value of the land increased exponentially from around ₹5.5 crore in 2022 to the present ₹55-60 crore.
"It appears the road project is being constructed unnecessarily to provide financial benefit to IAS and IPS officers. The Western Bypass should be reconsidered in the interest of the state," Dabas said, questioning the project's necessity when the Eastern Bypass already manages Bhopal's transit traffic.
The outfit has also alleged that the bypass alignment was changed three times, but the route continued to pass near the land purchased by the officers.
Dabas also claimed that several officers from the 2013 to 2016 batches had allegedly purchased land in the names of their wives and children, and some had constructed buildings in violation of rules in Bhopal.
The outfit has demanded a high-level investigation into the land deals and urged the government to scrap the Western Bypass project to prevent "unnecessary expenditure of public money".
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
