CBI arrests senior IAS officer in Rs 60 crore Haryana govt funds embezzlement case

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested senior IAS officer Pankaj Agarwal for allegedly siphoning off more than Rs 60 crore from Haryana government accounts maintained with IDFC First Bank, officials said on Tuesday.

Agarwal, a 2000-batch IAS officer of the Haryana cadre, served as Principal Secretary in the School Education Department from 10 December 2024 to 16 June 2025 and later as Principal Secretary in the Agriculture Department from 20 June 2025 to 24 March 2026.

According to the CBI, government funds were allegedly siphoned from accounts belonging to the Haryana School Shiksha Pariyojana Parishad (HSSPP) and the Haryana State Agriculture Marketing Board (HSAMB).

The agency arrested Agarwal on Monday after its investigation allegedly revealed that accounts were opened at IDFC First Bank's Sector 32 branch in Chandigarh in violation of Haryana government guidelines and that funds were subsequently transferred into them beyond permissible limits.

“These accounts were opened during the tenure of Pankaj Agarwal, the then Principal Secretary. Investigation revealed that through fraudulent transactions in the accounts of these departments, funds were misappropriated, causing a net loss of Rs 60.54 crore to the government,” the CBI said in a statement.

The case forms part of a wider CBI investigation into the alleged embezzlement of Rs 657 crore from accounts of the Haryana government and the Chandigarh administration maintained with IDFC First Bank.

According to the agency, the total loss to the Haryana government is estimated at Rs 504 crore, while the Chandigarh administration allegedly suffered losses of Rs 153 crore.

Agarwal is scheduled to be produced before a special court.

The CBI took over the investigation following a reference from the Haryana government.

The agency said it had collected incriminating evidence against the officer during the probe.

According to investigators, the alleged Rs 60.54 crore fraud involving HSSPP and HSAMB was part of a larger scam in which Rs 504 crore from eight Haryana government departments was siphoned off and routed through shell entities.

The CBI has already filed a chargesheet against 17 accused in the Haryana case, including six officials of IDFC First Bank and AU Small Finance Bank, three Haryana government officials, two companies and six private individuals.

The agency also said senior IAS officer R.K. Singh, who was earlier arrested in connection with alleged misappropriation of funds in the Municipal Corporation of Panchkula, has been remanded to judicial custody after completion of his police remand.

Apart from the Haryana case, the CBI is investigating two related cases in Chandigarh involving the Chandigarh Smart City Limited (CSCL), Chandigarh Municipal Corporation and the Centre for Research and Industrial Staff Performance (CREST).

In the CSCL case, the agency has chargesheeted five bankers, one CSCL official and a private individual. In the CREST case, five bankers, two CREST officials, four private persons and two companies have been chargesheeted.

The CBI said a senior Indian Forest Service (IFoS) officer has already been arrested in connection with the CREST case.