Divisional Commissioner (Indore) B P Singh told The Indian Express on Monday that the scandal could not have occurred without the involvement of officials from various departments. “We are verifying each and every land deal,” he said.

Narmada Valley Development Authority sources said as many as 2696 farmers had opted for SRP and they were paid compensation of Rs 150.28 crore. Though not all deals are fake, the Government wants to investigate all of them.

In Khargone alone, 98 FIRs have been lodged, while 16 have been lodged in Dhar. Several cases have also come to light from Badwani district. Some brokers have been taken into custody already.

Meanwhile, Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar said nothing less than a CBI inquiry would bring out the true picture because several departments were involved. She alleged that instead of punishing the officials, the Government was registering FIRs against farmers, some of whom were not even aware of the scandal.

Patkar said the SRP to be scrapped because it violated the basic “land for land” principle.

NBA’s Badwani-based activist Ashish Mandloi alleged that there were some cases of forgery too. He claimed the organisation had warned the Government and the Economic Offences Wing about the scandal long ago.

Patkar said she had taken up the matter with the Shunglu Committee when it visited project-affected farmers.