CBI arrests Haryana IAS officer over Rs 60.5 crore loss

The Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested senior Haryana cadre IAS officer Pankaj Aggarwal in connection with an alleged large-scale misappropriation of government funds. Aggarwal, a 2000-batch officer who was serving as Principal Secretary for the School Education and Agriculture departments, was arrested on Monday, June 22, and is expected to be produced before a court.

The arrest is linked to an investigation into the alleged siphoning of funds from accounts belonging to the Haryana School Shiksha Pariyojna Parishad and the Haryana State Agriculture Marketing Board, which were maintained at an IDFC First Bank branch in Chandigarh’s Sector 32. The CBI alleges the accounts were opened in violation of state Finance Department guidelines during Aggarwal’s tenure, and that fraudulent transactions through them caused a net loss of approximately 60.54 crore rupees to the state treasury.

According to the agency, about 10 crore rupees was allegedly diverted from the agriculture board’s account to two shell firms, while over 50 crore rupees was allegedly siphoned from the school education department’s account. Aggarwal is the second IAS officer arrested in the broader probe;...