Image for representational purposes only. File
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday (June 30, 2026) arrested an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) official and former Member Secretary of the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB), in connection with the alleged misappropriation of ₹169 crore in government funds.
The agency said Pardeep Kumar was allegedly involved in the fraud. The funds were allegedly diverted from the account of HSPCB maintained with the Sector-32, Chandigarh branch of IDFC First Bank.
“He himself handled the entire investment related work at his level. Funds for fixed deposits were sent to IDFC First bank far in excess of the prescribed limits. For creating the fixed deposits, the funds of HSPCB were first transferred into an account opened at IDFC First Bank, Sector-32 branch, Chandigarh,” the CBI said, adding that the department could not produce any record with regard to the opening of the account.
The agency alleged that the account had been opened without any approvals and funds transferred into it on the pretext of creating fixed deposits. “Instead, fraudulent debit transactions were carried out from this account, resulting in the misappropriation of government funds and causing a net loss of approximately Rs.169 crore to the Haryana government. This represents the single largest financial loss suffered by any of the affected government departments of Haryana in the overall scam,” it said.
Mr. Kumar had allegedly been evading investigation for some time and was not joining the probe despite repeated efforts.
Based on a reference from the Haryana government, the CBI earlier took over the case from the State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau. The HSPCB case is part of a larger banking “fraud” at the Sector-32 branch of IDFC First Bank, Chandigarh, from where government funds of about ₹504 crore linked to eight Haryana government departments were allegedly siphoned off via forged/non-existent fixed deposits and fraudulent debit transactions. They were then routed through shell entities.
The CBI has so far filed charge-sheets against 17 accused in the Haryana case, including six bank officials of IDFC First Bank and AU Small Finance Bank, three public servants, two companies and six private individuals.
Among those previously arrested are Ram Kumar Singh, the then Commissioner in the Municipal Corporation, Panchkula, in the ₹79.46-crore case; and Pankaj Aggarwal, the then Principal Secretary in the Department of School Education and Department of Agriculture in Haryana, in the ₹60.54-crore case.
The CBI has also arrested two bank officials Shamim Dar, then Area Head of IDFC First Bank, and Charanjeet Singh Randhawa, then Branch Manager of AU Small Finance Bank (Mohali), in connection with the misappropriation of funds.
Published – July 01, 2026 01:47 am IST
