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₹504 Crore Haryana Fund Scam (Image Internet))
New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested senior IAS officer Pankaj Aggarwal in connection with an ongoing probe into alleged misappropriation of Haryana government funds through accounts maintained at the Sector 32, Chandigarh branch of IDFC First Bank.
Aggarwal, who earlier served as Principal Secretary in the Department of School Education and the Department of Agriculture, was arrested on June 22, 2026. He is expected to be produced before the court today.
According to the CBI, the case relates to government funds belonging to the Haryana School Shiksha Pariyojna Parishad and the Haryana State Agriculture Marketing Board. These accounts were allegedly opened in violation of existing guidelines issued by the Finance Department of the Haryana government.
The agency has alleged that funds were later transferred into these accounts beyond permitted limits. The CBI claims that fraudulent transactions from these departmental accounts led to a net loss of ₹60.54 crore to the state government.
The accounts in question were opened during Aggarwal’s tenure as Principal Secretary. The agency said it has collected incriminating evidence against him during the investigation.
The investigation was taken over by the CBI from the State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau, Haryana, following a reference from the state government. The alleged fraud in these two departments is said to be part of a wider scam involving the Sector 32 branch of IDFC First Bank, where around ₹504 crore belonging to eight Haryana government departments was allegedly siphoned off and routed through shell entities.
So far, the CBI has chargesheeted 17 accused in the Haryana case. These include six bank officials linked to IDFC First Bank and AU Small Finance Bank, three Haryana government public servants, two companies and six private individuals.
Senior IAS officer R.K. Singh, who was earlier arrested in connection with alleged misappropriation involving Municipal Corporation Panchkula, has been sent to judicial custody after the end of his police remand.
The CBI has also taken over two related cases from Chandigarh UT, involving Chandigarh Smart City/Chandigarh Municipal Corporation and CREST Chandigarh. Chargesheets have been filed in both matters, while one senior IFoS officer has already been arrested in the CREST case.
