Bilaspur, Jun 27 (PTI) A revenue official under suspension after being named in a case related to irregularities in land acquisition for a Bharatmala road project allegedly committed suicide in Chhattisgarh's Bilaspur district on Friday, the extreme step coming days before he was set to retire, a police official said.
Suresh Kumar Mishra, a patwari in the state revenue department, was found hanging from the ceiling in a room of his sister's farmhouse in Joki village this afternoon, said Sakari police station official Pradeep Arya said.
A note found at the spot mentioned that he was innocent and had names of other officials as well as a villager allegedly involved in the irregularities, the official said, adding its details were being verified.
A letter addressed to the district collector, in which Mishra claimed innocence and sought his reinstatement, was also found nearby, SHO Arya said.
Mishra was set to retire on June 30. He was suspended on June 24.
On June 25, an FIR was lodged against then tehsildar DR Uike and Mishra at Torwa police station here for allegedly committing irregularities in land acquisition and calculation of compensation for construction of National Highway 130A (Bilaspur-Urga) main road under Bharatmala project, another official said.
The FIR was lodged on the complaint of the incumbent tehsildar following an inquiry by the Bilaspur Sub Divisional Officer (Revenue) and a district level committee, this official said.
"The inquiry suggested that due to forgery in the revenue records and illegal transfer/partition of land, extra compensation amount was calculated which would have caused financial loss to government exchequer. As the compensation case is pending before the arbitrator, compensation has not been distributed," he said.