CBI arrests IAS officer in connection with alleged ₹79.46 crore diversion from Panchkula Municipal Corporation

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer in connection with the alleged diversion of ₹79.46 crore from the Panchkula Municipal Corporation in Haryana.

The accused, identified as Sri Ram Kumar Singh, was serving as the Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation at the time of the alleged incident. The funds were reportedly diverted from the Corporation’s account at the Chandigarh branch of IDFC First Bank.

According to the CBI, the account was opened in violation of guidelines issued by the Haryana Government’s Finance Department. The agency stated that particulars recorded on the account opening form were entered in a manner designed to conceal the fraudulent transactions that were being planned.

As part of the alleged conspiracy, which also involves officials of IDFC First Bank, Mr. Singh is accused of handing over multiple signed cheques to the bankers through middlemen under the pretext of opening fixed deposits. The CBI said that the funds were debited using these cheques, but no fixed deposits were ever created. The debited amounts were then diverted to shell entities controlled and operated by the accused bank officials.

Earlier, the CBI had arrested a senior accountant of the Municipal Corporation in the same case. Following that, Mr. Singh was booked, and his residences in Chandigarh and Karnal were searched.

The CBI took over the investigation from the Haryana Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau at the request of the state government. The fraud at the Panchkula Municipal Corporation is part of a larger scam at the same bank branch, in which ₹504 crore belonging to eight Haryana government departments was allegedly siphoned off.

So far, 17 accused have been charge-sheeted by the CBI in the Haryana case. Among them are six officials of IDFC First Bank/AU Small Finance Bank, three public servants, two companies, and six private individuals. The agency has also taken over two other cases from the Chandigarh Union Territory.