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The authorities of Saudi Arabia have also given permission for the killing of people who refused to leave their lands, to pave the way for the "futuristic" project of building an ecological city in the middle of the desert.
The serious accusation comes from Colonel Rabih Alenezi, former operative of the information service in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in a confession for CNN. According to him, one of the villagers who refused to leave was shot dead.
The BBC says the Saudi government and Neom project managers declined to comment on the allegations.
The construction of the city of the future will cost 500 billion dollars and is part of Saudi Arabia's "Vision 2030", which aims to diversify the economy beyond the oil industry.
The flagship of this project, "Linja", is an ecological city, without cars, only 200 meters wide and 170 kilometers long. However, by 2030 only 2.4 kilometers are predicted to be finished. Dozens of Western companies are involved in this project, the BBC reports.
Saudi leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has described the area where the city will be built as a "no man's land", but according to a British human rights group, more than 6,000 people have been forced from their homes by now.
Colonel Alenezi, who was granted asylum in the United Kingdom last year, said the order to kill was given for the village of Al-Khurayabah, where members of the Huwaitat tribe live. According to him, the order was that there are many rebels among them and if they continue to oppose they could be killed.
A day after the operation was launched, Abdul Rahim Al-Hiwaiti refused the census commission to assess his property and was shot dead by Saudi authorities, says the BBC. Before he was killed, he had posted various videos on social media against the move and, according to Saudi authorities, had opened fire on security forces who had returned fire.
The BBC has not been able to independently verify the exiled Saudi colonel's claims, but a source with knowledge of the operating practices of the Kingdom's intelligence service said the colonel's testimony matched what they knew about the mission in question.
"Mohamed Bin Salman will not allow anything to stop the construction of Neom... That's why I also started to worry about what I would be asked to do to my people," Colonel Alenezi told the BBC.
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