The land acquisitions were also situated near a proposed Rs 3,200-crore Bhopal Western Bypass. The project received approval on August 31, 2023, nearly 16 months after the land transaction.
New Delhi: Members of the Constitutional Conduct Group (CCG), a collective of retired Indian bureaucrats, have issued an open letter to Madhya Pradesh chief minister Mohan Yadav expressing alarm and concern over the recent acquisition of more than 2,000 hectares of agricultural land by IAS and IPS officers.
The communication, dated May 15, 2026, carried the signatures of 62 former civil servants. “We were deeply disturbed by a news article, published in the Dainik Bhaskar on 10 April, 2026, regarding purchase of land by officers of the IAS and IPS in Village Gudari Ghat of Kolar region of your state. The allegations are grave,” they stated, listing seven observations based on the Dainik Bhaskar investigation.
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According to the newspaper, a review of the Immovable Property Returns (IPR) submitted by IAS officers in Madhya Pradesh uncovered extensive land investments in Guradi Ghat village near the Kolar area of Bhopal. Nearly 50 IAS and IPS officers from different parts of the country allegedly bought plots on the same date – April 4, 2022.
The acquisitions also occurred near a proposed Rs 3,200-crore Bhopal Western Bypass. The proposal was cleared on August 31, 2023, nearly 16 months after the land deal.
They allegedly acquired 2.023 hectares of agricultural land in the said village through a single registered deed, despite no cooperative society having been formally established by them.
According to the letter, the transaction value recorded in the deed was Rs. 5.50 crores, although the prevailing market worth of the land at that time was Rs. 7.78 crore. Furthermore, the valuation surged sharply after approval of the bypass project.
“Barely 16 months later, on 31st August 2023, the state government sanctioned the construction of a Western Bypass road from Fanda to Ratanpur, which passes the purchased (subject) land at a distance of merely 500 meters,” they stated, adding that in June 2024, the land use classification of the property was “converted from Agricultural to Residential”.
“In April 2022 the price of land in the village stood at Rs. 81.75 per sq. foot; in June 2024 (following approval of the Bypass road) it rose to Rs. 557 per sq. foot; the current valuation (after conversion of land use) is Rs. 2500-3000 per sq. foot.
“The increase in value of the land acquired by the officers is estimated between Rs.50 to Rs. 60 crores, within only four years,” the letter stated.
They emphasized that it was “extremely unusual” and difficult to regard as coincidence that so many officers would purchase land in the same locality on the exact same day. They further observed that such a varied list of co-holders for one parcel of land is more characteristic of a commercial venture than a personal residential investment or acquisition.
“Regardless of the doubts raised… if there was indeed a shared objective among these 50 officers, why was a cooperative society not formally constituted by them and the acquisition executed through such society?” they questioned, observing that this would have been the natural and transparent course of action.
“Failing to do so creates serious apprehensions regarding the actual intent of the transaction and its transparency,” they said.
The CCG has sought an investigation into whether any officers involved belonged to the Madhya Pradesh cadre and had associations with departments linked to the bypass project or the land conversion approval process.
“Government officials, particularly those belonging to the All India Services (AIS), are the foremost custodians of law, and any allegation that they are exploiting the law for personal gain, must be thoroughly investigated, swiftly and impartially,” they stated.
Meanwhile, another organisation, the System Parivartan Abhiyan (SPA), has demanded a high-level inquiry into land transactions surrounding the proposed bypass, amid allegations that the officers obtained plots through questionable means.
The SPA, an anti-corruption group in Madhya Pradesh, has also written to chief minister Yadav seeking the immediate scrapping of the 35-km project, alleging that its alignment was modified three times, yet continued to advantage bureaucrats.