Chhattisgarh: 5 PWD Officials Arrested In Rs 188-Crore Road Scam Linked To Journalist's Murder Released From Jail
Crores of rupees were allegedly embezzled by committing large-scale fraud at the engineering level. Following investigation, the PWD officials were arrested and sent to jail.
Published : August 1, 2025 at 10:11 AM IST
Bijapur: Five senior officials of the Public Works Department (PWD), who were arrested in connection with a Rs 188-crore road construction scam in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur, walked out of jail on Thursday afternoon after they were granted bail by the Dantewada District and Sessions Court.
The PWD officials, DR Sahu (retired executive engineer), VK Chauhan (retired executive engineer), HN Patra (then executive engineer), Pramod Singh Kanwar (SDO Bijapur), and Santosh Das (deputy engineer, Jagdalpur), were arrested over the controversial Gangalur-Mirtur road project, which came under scanner after journalist Mukesh Chandrakar exposed major irregularities in its execution. However, Chandrakar's murder after the expose raised serious concerns about a deeper nexus.
According to the investigation, crores of rupees were siphoned off in the road project through large-scale engineering-level fraud. Following the probe, all five officers were arrested and lodged in jail. They were, however, released from the jail after Dantewada District and Sessions Court granted them conditional bail.
Senior advocate RN Thakur, represented the accused in court, said, "After hearing both the prosecution and our side, the District and Sessions Judge granted conditional bail using judicial discretion."
The decision was taken considering the fact that the High Court had earlier granted anticipatory bail to three of the accused. "This became a strong basis for the Sessions Court's order," he added.
The case is far from over. The Rs 188-crore road scam is believed to be closely linked to the murder of journalist Chandrakar, who was the first to bring the corruption to light. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed to probe the murder case has already filed a 1241-page charge sheet in the district court, naming contractor Suresh Chandrakar, his brothers Ritesh Chandrakar and Dinesh Chandrakar, and Mahendra Ramteke. As investigation is underway, further revelations are expected in the coming days.
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