MUZAFFARPUR, BIHAR — A sophisticated land-grabbing syndicate involving high-ranking revenue officials and local “land mafia” has come to light in the Paru block of Muzaffarpur district, exposing a glaring failure of administrative oversight and the systemic victimization of non-resident landowners.
The case, centering on the ancestral property of Delhi-based senior journalist Jay Prakash Gupta, highlights a “novel” method of fraudulent land mutation allegedly pioneered by Paru Circle Officer (CO) Mukesh Kumar to bypass previous legal rejections.
The Conspiracy of “Re-Sale”
The dispute involves a 16.4-decimal plot (Plot No. 9840, Khata No. 2028) in Paru, officially recorded in the name of the late Madhulal Prasad Gupta. Despite the land being clearly registered in the government’s Register-II, a local individual, Jitendra Prasad Gupta, allegedly sold 10 decimals of the prime land to Lalita Devi and Sangeeta Devi in 2020 using a deed with falsified book numbers.
Between 2020 and 2023, successive Circle Officers rejected the buyers’ mutation requests three times, citing discrepancies between the deed and official revenue records. However, the situation shifted upon the arrival of the current CO, Mukesh Kumar.
According to complaints filed with district authorities, Kumar allegedly advised the illegal buyers to “resell” the land to their husbands, Munna Mahto and Manoj Mahto. By altering the Chauhaddi (boundaries) in the new 2024 registry to omit the rightful owner’s name, Kumar reportedly approved the mutation that his predecessors had repeatedly blocked.
Administrative Inaction and Fresh Fraud
The victim, Jay Prakash Gupta, has reportedly escalated the matter to the highest levels of the Bihar government, including Revenue and Land Reforms Minister Dilip Jaiswal, the Divisional Commissioner of Tirhut, and Muzaffarpur District Magistrate (DM) Subrat Sen. Despite these representations, no administrative action has been taken to suspend the officials or nullify the mutation.
Taking advantage of this administrative vacuum, the land mafia allegedly struck again last month. Local middlemen Shri Prakash Jauhari and Ram Babu Jauhari reportedly coerced Om Prakash Gupta, the journalist’s elder brother, into a hurried sale of a small chunk of the same plot.
“My brother was not properly briefed on the boundaries and was forced to sign papers in a Muzaffarpur registry office despite the existence of a registry office in Paru,” the complainant stated, alleging a deliberate conspiracy to further complicate the legal title of the land.
A Pattern of Alleged Misconduct
CO Mukesh Kumar is no stranger to controversy. He is currently facing a departmental probe for alleged corruption and “acts of commission” during his previous tenure in Aurangabad district. His continued posting in a sensitive circle like Paru has raised questions about the state’s vetting process for revenue officials.
Similarly, DM Subrat Sen has recently faced judicial heat. In February 2026, the Patna High Court initiated contempt proceedings against Sen in a separate land acquisition case (Pratima Devi vs. State of Bihar), highlighting a perceived pattern of administrative lethargy in Muzaffarpur.
New Government Crackdown
The exposé comes at a time when the Bihar government is vowing a “zero-tolerance” policy toward land mafias. Revenue Minister Dilip Jaiswal, who took charge in May 2026, recently warned of “havoc” for corrupt officials.
“Corruption won’t be spared. Even if physical papers are destroyed, our digital records are secure,” Jaiswal told reporters in Patna on Saturday. “Wrongdoers will go to jail.”
While the state government promises “Ayurvedic treatment”—a metaphor for bitter but effective reform—for the “chronic disease” of land grabbing, the family of Jay Prakash Gupta continues to fight a legal battle in the DCLR West court, waiting for the rhetoric of reform to meet the reality of justice on the ground.
