Panchkula civic body fund fraud: Kotak bank manager, 1 more arrested

Haryana's Anti-Corruption Bureau arrested a Kotak Mahindra Bank manager and another accused in a major financial fraud case. The case involves discrepancies in Municipal Corporation Panchkula's fixed deposits worth over Rs 145 crore.

In a major development in the alleged financial irregularities linked to fixed deposits of the State Vigilance & Anti-Corruption Bureau, Haryana has arrested a relationship manager of Kotak Mahindra Bank and another accused in connection with discrepancies involving funds of Municipal Corporation Panchkula.

According to officials, the ACB registered an FIR dated March 24, 2026, at the ACB Police Station, Panchkula, after detecting serious irregularities in fixed deposit receipts (FDRs) and bank accounts maintained by the civic body at Kotak Mahindra Bank's Sector-11 branch in Panchkula.

Key Arrests in Panchkula Fraud Case

Bank Relationship Manager Apprehended

The first arrest in the case is Dileep Kumar Raghav, who was serving as Relationship Manager at the bank during the period under investigation.

Vigilance officials said Municipal Corporation Panchkula had deposited 16 fixed deposits worth over Rs. 145 crore, with a maturity value estimated at nearly Rs 158 crore. During scrutiny, investigators found major discrepancies between records maintained by the bank and those available with the Municipal Corporation. Officials said the account balances reflected by the bank were substantially lower than expected, while some bank accounts linked to the corporation were allegedly not recorded in official civic records.

Preliminary investigation suggests that Dileep Kumar Raghav, in alleged conspiracy with other accused persons, provided misleading and false reports regarding the fixed deposits to the Municipal Corporation, leading to serious mismatches in financial records.

Second Accused Arrested

In another significant breakthrough, vigilance teams also arrested Rajat Dahra, son of Bhagwan Das Dahra, in the same case.

During questioning, Rajat Dahra allegedly disclosed that he received more than Rs 60 crore from two bank accounts between May 29, 2020, and 2025. Investigators suspect that the amount was subsequently transferred to multiple other accounts, which are now under examination.

Investigation and Legal Action

A case has been registered against unknown officials and employees of Kotak Mahindra Bank and other concerned persons under Sections 13(1)(a) and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, along with relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023.

Senior officials of the vigilance bureau said the investigation is expanding and more arrests are possible as financial trails are being examined. Haryana follows a zero-tolerance policy against corruption, adding that no individual, regardless of position, will be spared if found involved in misuse of public funds.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)