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

The CBI arrested senior IAS officer Pankaj Agarwal for allegedly siphoning over Rs 60 crore from Haryana government accounts maintained with IDFC First Bank. The case is part of a larger probe into a multi-crore embezzlement involving multiple departments and officials

New Delhi: The CBI has arrested senior IAS officer Pankaj Agarwal for allegedly siphoning off over Rs 60 crore from the accounts of the Haryana government maintained with IDFC First Bank, officials said on Tuesday.

The 2000-batch IAS officer from the Haryana cadre served as principal secretary in the education ministry from December 10, 2024, to June 16, 2025. He was posted as principal secretary in agriculture from June 20, 2025, to March 24 this year, officials said.

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It is alleged that government funds were siphoned from the accounts of the Haryana School Shiksha Pariyojana Parishad (HSSPP) and the Haryana State Agriculture Marketing Board (HSAMB).

Agarwal was arrested on Monday after it emerged during the probe that accounts were opened at the bank’s Chandigarh Sector 32 branch in violation of Haryana government guidelines, and that funds were later transferred to it in excess of the 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 spokesperson said in a statement.

The case is part of the CBI investigation into Rs 657 crore embezzlement from the accounts of the Haryana government and Chandigarh administration maintained at IDFC First Bank.

The total loss caused to the Haryana government by the illegal transactions is Rs 504 crore, while in Chandigarh’s case it is Rs 153 crore, the spokesperson said.

Agarwal will be produced before a special court on Tuesday.

The CBI took over the probe on a reference from the Haryana government.

“During the investigation, incriminating evidence against Pankaj Agarwal has been collected,” the spokesperson said.

The fraud in these two departments involved the misappropriation of approximately Rs 60.54 crore, forming part of a larger scam at the Sector 32 IDFC First Bank branch, in which funds amounting to Rs 504 crore from eight Haryana government departments were siphoned off and routed to shell entities, the statement said.

The CBI has listed 17 accused in its charge sheet in this Haryana case, including six bank officials of IDFC First Bank/AU Small Finance Bank, three public servants of the Haryana government, two companies and six other persons.

“Senior IAS officer R K Singh, who was arrested in this case in relation to misappropriation in Municipal Corporation Panchkula, has been remanded in judicial custody after the expiry of his police remand,” the spokesperson said.

Pertaining to the IDFC scam, the CBI is also probing two other cases from Chandigarh — one concerning Chandigarh Smart City (CSCL) and the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, and the other concerning CREST Chandigarh.

“The CBI has charge-sheeted five bankers, one CSCL official and one private person in the CSCL case; and five bankers, two CREST officials, four private persons and two companies in the CREST case. Further, one senior IFoS (Indian Forest Service) officer has already been arrested in the CREST case,” the spokesperson said.