The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested Pankaj Aggarwal, the then Principal Secretary in the Department of School Education and Department of Agriculture in Haryana, in connection with the alleged misappropriation of government funds.

“The funds were siphoned off from the accounts of the Haryana School Shiksha Pariyojna Parishad and the Haryana State Agriculture Marketing Board maintained with the Sector 32, Chandigarh branch of IDFC First Bank,” said the agency.

The CBI has taken over the case on a reference from the Haryana government. As alleged, accounts of these departments were opened in violation of extant guidelines of the Finance Department and funds were later transferred into them in excess of limits.

The accounts were opened during the tenure of Mr. Aggarwal as Principal Secretary. “Investigation revealed that through fraudulent transactions in the accounts of these departments, funds were misappropriated, causing a net loss of ₹60.54 crore to the government. During investigation, incriminating evidence against Pankaj Aggarwal has been collected,” said the agency.

The fraud is part of a larger “scam” at the Sector 32 IDFC First Bank branch, in which funds to the tune of ₹504 crore of eight Haryana government departments were diverted to shell entities. The agency has so far charge-sheeted 17 accused, including six officials of IDFC First Bank/AU Small Finance Bank, three Haryana government officials, two companies and six private persons.

Senior IAS official R.K. Singh was earlier arrested in the Municipal Corporation, Panchkula, case. He is currently in judicial custody. The CBI has also taken over two other cases from the Chandigarh Union Territory. One pertains to Chandigarh Smart City Limited (CSCL)/Chandigarh Municipal Corporation and another is related to CREST Chandigarh.