Senior IAS officer held in Haryana Rs 60 crore fraud case

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Panchkula, June 23

The CBI has arrested a senior Haryana IAS officer, Pankaj Aggarwal, over allegations of embezzling more than ₹60 crore from government department accounts, in a case that forms part of a much larger banking fraud investigation. The CBI  said Aggarwal, who served as Principal Secretary in Haryana’s School Education and Agriculture departments, was arrested on Tuesday following findings that government funds were allegedly diverted through bank accounts opened in violation of official guidelines.

According to the CBI, the accounts were opened at the Sector 32 branch of IDFC First Bank in Chandigarh during Aggarwal tenure and large sums were transferred into these accounts beyond permitted limits leading to significant financial losses for the state government.

The agency said fraudulent transactions involving the Haryana School Shiksha Pariyojana Parishad (HSSPP) and the Haryana State Agriculture Marketing Board (HSAMB) resulted in a loss of approximately ₹60.54 crore.

For many taxpayers, the case raises concerns about how public money meant for education and agricultural development could allegedly be diverted through financial irregularities.

The arrest is part of the CBI’s wider investigation into an alleged ₹657-crore fraud linked to accounts maintained with IDFC First Bank. The CBI alleged that  Haryana government departments suffered losses of around ₹504 crore, while departments of the Chandigarh administration allegedly lost another ₹153 crore.

The CBI alleged that the  evidence  pointed to Aggarwal’s involvement in the opening and operation of the accounts under scrutiny. He is expected to be produced before a special court.

Investigators believe the ₹60.54-crore fraud is one component of a broader scheme in which funds from eight Haryana government departments were allegedly siphoned off and routed through shell entities.

So far, the agency has filed charges against 17 accused in the Haryana case, including bank officials, government employees, private individuals and companies.

The CBI has already led to other high-profile arrests. Senior IAS officer R.K. Singh, arrested earlier in connection with alleged financial irregularities involving the Municipal Corporation of Panchkula, has since been remanded to judicial custody. The CBI is also examining related cases involving Chandigarh Smart City Limited (CSCL), the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation and the Centre for Research and Industrial Staff Performance (CREST). Chargesheets have been filed against several bankers, government officials, private individuals and companies in those cases as well.

The investigation remains ongoing as authorities continue to trace the flow of public funds and identify those allegedly responsible for one of the region’s largest financial fraud cases.