CBI arrests top Haryana IAS officer in ₹60.54 crore fund misappropriation case

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested Pankaj Aggarwal, a senior IAS officer who served as Principal Secretary in Haryana's School Education and Agriculture departments, in connection with the alleged misappropriation of government funds amounting to ₹60.54 crore.

According to the CBI, the funds were diverted from accounts of the Haryana School Shiksha Pariyojna Parishad and the Haryana State Agriculture Marketing Board, both maintained at the Sector 32, Chandigarh branch of IDFC First Bank. The agency said the accounts were opened in violation of state finance department guidelines, and funds were transferred in excess of prescribed limits during Aggarwal's tenure.

Investigators have gathered incriminating evidence against Aggarwal, who is accused of facilitating fraudulent transactions that caused significant losses to the state exchequer. The case is part of a larger probe into a bank branch-level scandal, where over ₹504 crore from eight Haryana government departments were allegedly routed to shell entities.

So far, the CBI has charge-sheeted 17 accused, including six bank officials, three Haryana government employees, two companies, and six private persons. Another senior IAS officer, R.K. Singh, was earlier arrested in a separate case involving the Municipal Corporation of Panchkula and is currently in judicial custody.

The CBI initiated the investigation based on a reference from the Haryana government. The agency has also taken over two related cases from the Chandigarh Union Territory, one concerning Chandigarh Smart City Limited and another involving CREST Chandigarh.