Bihar Bhumi scam: Chhapra land scandal exposes massive fraud; high-level probe on

A fresh land scam has rocked Bihar's Chhapra city, where a 2.5-acre plot belonging to the Ramnagar state was illegally sold using forged documents. With assembly elections approaching, this scandal adds fresh embarrassment for the Nitish Kumar-led government.

The scam came to light after the District Magistrate of Chhapra flagged irregularities in property records. As investigations deepen, the misuse of Bihar's land digitisation system is under intense scrutiny.

Land mafia

Chhapra, a small city in Bihar’s Saran district, is now in the spotlight for the wrong reasons. The land in question, located near the Chhapra railway station in Bhagwan Bazaar, originally belonged to the Ramnagar state of Motihari district.

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Senior journalist Ashok Mishra explained the situation, "The land scam in the Chhapra district of Bihar has shocked many because the land is owned by the Ramnagar state of the Motihari district. The land mafia procured the land deed number somehow and sold it to nearly 20 people by dividing the entire stretch into plots," he said.

How the scam unfolded

Bihar had set up the "Bihar Bhumi Portal" to make land records accessible online. However, corrupt officials manipulated the system, forging ownership papers and illegally transferring government and private land to third parties — without the real owners ever knowing.

Houses and shops have since sprung up on the once-empty land. Some shop owners even claim that the constructions were done by the late Raja Manmohan Vikram Shah, also known as Ram Raja.

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"This land was registered in the name of the Ramnagar state way back in 1901 and 1902. There was also a land survey conducted in Bihar in 1960. The land mafia has procured the land deed number, but they have no documents suggesting ownership," added Mishra.

Official files went missing

Many fraudulent land transfers were supported by official documents that mysteriously vanished from the land registry office. These missing files made it easy for the land mafia to create fake deeds.

The fraud came under the scanner when district authorities detected discrepancies during routine checks. Immediate steps were taken to probe the irregularities.

High-level probe

A special committee was formed to investigate the matter, and it submitted its report on April 28. Following this, a high-level probe was ordered to expose the full extent of the fraud.

To prevent further scams, Bihar has fast-tracked the digitisation of land records. In Patna district, land ownership is now being linked to Aadhaar cards. Out of 17 lakh applications, around 13 lakh records have already been linked.

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With the assembly election due in October, the opposition is expected to seize on the Bhumi scam to attack the Nitish Kumar government. How the government plans to defend itself remains to be seen.

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