Former Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) director M. Nageswara Rao on Thursday claimed that land fraud has become a major concern in Odisha.

Rao raised the issue after the reply to an RTI query revealed that a land, measuring around 7.5 acres, on government plot 321 under Patrapada Mouza and situated alongside the National Highway 16 (Kolkata to Chennai) had been sold and purchased at least 27 times.

A number of people were behind the scam. “The land scam is estimated at ₹250 crore as per the current market price,” said Srikant Pakal, joint convener of Odisha Soochana Adhikar Abhiyan (OSAA).

“It’s a big racket; it needs to be investigated,” Rao told the media on Thursday.

On Sunday, Rao wrote a post on X stating that he was the victim of a land fraud 13 years ago and despite being a senior IPS officer and failing to register a case, he somehow managed to recover his money.

He also maintained that he had reported all these things in his annual property returns submitted to the Odisha government and central government.

Rao was the interim director of CBI for 103 days from October 24, 2018, to February 4, 2019.

Rao’s post on X read: “I was a victim of a fraud committed by Nrusinga Prasad Sudaray alias Babino in cahoots with powerful people in which they fraudulently sold government land which they encroached by creating forged documents and the sale deed was registered with Sub-Registrar Office Bhubaneswar.”

Rao had purchased a 4,000-square-foot plot of land at Patrapada, on the outskirts of the city, on February 4, 2011, and a sale deed was registered with the Khandagiri sub-registrar office (SRO).

Rao’s statement said: “On completion of my central deputation tenure to the Odisha government and was posted as ADG (additional director-general) of Police, Special armed Police, Cuttack in May 2011. Sometime later I applied for mutation of said plot of land in our favour, but to our utter shock we were informed by the revenue inspector and tahasil office that the said plot of land sold to us was government land.”

In his post, he said he had filed a complaint on November 5, 2015, to the superintendent of police, economics offence wing. “But I am ashamed to inform that being a senior IPS officer of Odisha and inspite of my efforts, I failed to get the FIR registered as powerful people were involved. Later a civil suit no 9211/2015 was filed before the court of Additional Civil Judge, Senior Division, Bhubaneswar but I did not get any relief as powerful people are involved in it,” it said.

He further said: “Totally exhausted and finding no way to get justice and in view of the impending marriage of my daughter for which I needed money, I agreed for deed cancellation which was registered in 4th June in the SRO Khandagiri, Bhubaneswar and my money was returned.”