Haryana govt suspends IAS officer Pankaj Agrawal in CBI bank fraud case

The Haryana government suspended IAS officer Pankaj Agrawal days after his CBI arrest in an alleged bank fraud case. He is accused of misappropriating funds from government accounts maintained with IDFC FIRST Bank and AU Small Finance Bank.

The Haryana government on Friday suspended IAS officer Pankaj Agrawal, days after he was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with an alleged bank fraud case. Agrawal was taken into CBI custody on June 22 and was produced before a court on June 23. He is currently in judicial custody. The case pertains to an alleged bank fraud involving IDFC FIRST Bank and AU Small Finance Bank, which is being investigated by the CBI.

This comes after on June 23, the CBI arrested Pankaj Aggarwal, IAS, on Monday, who was the then Principal Secretary in Department of School Education and Agriculture, in connection with the alleged misappropriation of government funds from the account of Haryana School Shiksha Pariyojna Parishad (HSSPP) and Haryana State Agriculture Marketing Board (HSAMB) maintained with the Sector 32, Chandigarh branch of IDFC First Bank. He will be produced before the court today.

Details of the Investigation

The case was taken over by the CBI at the request of the Government of Haryana. The Investigation revealed that accounts of these departments were opened in violation of the extant guidelines of the Finance Department of the Government of Haryana, and later funds were transferred thereto in excess of limits. So far, 17 accused have been charge sheeted by the CBI in this Haryana case, which includes 6 Bank officials of IDFC First Bank/AU Small Finance Bank, 3 public servants of the Haryana government, 2 companies and 6 Private persons.

Another Senior Officer Arrested

Senior IAS officer RK Singh, who was arrested in this case in relation to misappropriation in Municipal corporation Panchkula, has been remanded to judicial custody after the expiry of his police remand.

CBI Probes Other Chandigarh Cases

It may further be recalled that CBI has also taken over 2 other cases from the Chandigarh Union Territory - one about Chandigarh Smart City (CSCL)/ Chandigarh Municipal Corporation and another of CREST Chandigarh. One chargesheet each in these cases has also been filed by the CBI.

CBI has chrargesheeted five bankers, one CSCL official and one private person in the CSCL case; and five bankers, two CREST officials, four private persons and two companies in the CREST case. Further, one senior IFoS officer has already been arrested in the CREST Case.

The CBI remains committed to bringing all those responsible to justice and to ensuring that the trail of misappropriated public funds is fully traced. (ANI)

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