UP Civic Officer Arrested in ₹100 Crore Illegal Land Transfer Scam in Sambhal

An Assistant Municipal Commissioner posted in Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh, has been arrested in connection with an alleged illegal transfer of government land valued at over ₹100 crore , police said on Thursday, marking a major development in an ongoing corruption probe.

The accused, Raj Kumar Gupta , was serving as the Executive Officer of the Sambhal Municipal Council at the time of the alleged offence. He was taken into custody on Wednesday after investigators claimed to have gathered sufficient evidence of his involvement in the case.

According to Sambhal Superintendent of Police Krishan Kumar Bishnoi , an FIR has been registered at Sambhal Kotwali police station against 31 named individuals and several unidentified accused persons . The charges include cheating, forgery, criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust , and provisions of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.

Police said the case pertains to the forgery of official documents and the illegal transfer of prime village community land located on the Sambhal–Moradabad road. Investigators allege that the accused acted in collusion with other government officials and private individuals, causing a loss of more than ₹100 crore to the state exchequer.

In a key allegation, investigators said Gupta facilitated the land transfer by filing an affidavit in the Allahabad High Court in favour of the accused parties, which ultimately led to the disposal of a related writ petition and enabled the disputed transaction to proceed.

Police have constituted multiple teams to trace and arrest the remaining accused , and further investigation is underway to uncover the full extent of the alleged conspiracy and financial irregularities.