CBI arrests IAS officer Pankaj Aggarwal in ₹504 crore IDFC First Bank fraud
Synopsis
The CBI's arrest of IAS officer Pankaj Aggarwal — the second senior bureaucrat detained in the case — reveals the depth of alleged rot inside Haryana's government banking arrangements. With ₹504 crore across eight departments allegedly funnelled through a single Chandigarh branch to shell entities, this is no isolated lapse; it points to systemic failures in account-opening oversight and fund-transfer controls at the highest levels of the state bureaucracy.
Key Takeaways
CBI arrested IAS officer Pankaj Aggarwal on 23 June 2025 in connection with the IDFC First Bank fraud at its Sector 32, Chandigarh branch.
Aggarwal is accused of causing a loss of ₹60.54 crore through alleged misappropriation from the Haryana School Shiksha Pariyojna Parishad and the Haryana State Agriculture Marketing Board .
The broader fraud involves ₹504 crore from eight government departments , allegedly routed to shell entities.
This is the second IAS arrest in the case; IAS officer R.K.
Singh was arrested earlier and remains in judicial custody.
17 accused have been charge-sheeted so far, including bank officials, public servants, companies, and private individuals.
The CBI has also taken over two additional Chandigarh cases — Chandigarh Smart City and CREST Chandigarh — widening the investigation's scope.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Pankaj Aggarwal in connection with the misappropriation of government funds held at the Chandigarh branch of IDFC First Bank, making him the second IAS officer to be detained in what investigators describe as a ₹504 crore multi-department banking fraud. Aggarwal is set to be produced before a court on Tuesday, 24 June 2025.
What Aggarwal Is Accused Of
According to the CBI, Aggarwal served as Principal Secretary when accounts of the Haryana School Shiksha Pariyojna Parishad and the Haryana State Agriculture Marketing Board were opened at the IDFC First Bank branch in Sector 32, Chandigarh. Investigators say these accounts were created in violation of the Haryana Finance Department guidelines, and funds were subsequently transferred into them beyond permissible limits.
Through a series of allegedly fraudulent transactions, funds were siphoned off — causing a direct loss of ₹60.54 crore to the state government, according to the CBI. The agency says incriminating evidence against Aggarwal has been collected during the course of the investigation.
The Larger Scam at IDFC First Bank
The ₹60.54 crore loss attributed to Aggarwal forms part of a significantly larger fraud at the same Sector 32 branch. According to the CBI, funds totalling ₹504 crore belonging to eight government departments were allegedly siphoned off and routed to shell entities. The scale of the scam places it among the more serious banking-linked corruption cases involving public officials in Haryana in recent years.
The CBI took over the investigation from the State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau of Haryana on the reference of the state government. To date, the agency has filed charge sheets against 17 accused, including six officials of IDFC First Bank and AU Small Finance Bank, three public servants of the Haryana government, two companies, and six private individuals.
First IAS Arrest and Prior Developments
The first IAS officer arrested in the case was R.K. Singh, who was detained for allegedly misappropriating funds of the Municipal Corporation in Panchkula. Singh is currently in judicial custody. Aggarwal's arrest marks an escalation in the CBI's pursuit of senior bureaucrats linked to the fraud.
Notably, the CBI has also assumed charge of two related cases from Chandigarh — one involving the Chandigarh Smart City project of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, and another pertaining to CREST Chandigarh — suggesting investigators are widening the scope of their scrutiny beyond the IDFC First Bank branch.
What Comes Next
With Aggarwal's court production scheduled for Tuesday, the CBI is expected to seek custody for further questioning. The agency's expanding charge sheet and its takeover of additional Chandigarh cases signal that more arrests or supplementary filings could follow as the investigation into the broader ₹504 crore fraud progresses.
Point of View
The risk is that the headline number grows further. The deeper accountability question — who authorised the Finance Department guideline violations and why — remains publicly unanswered.
NationPress
23 Jun 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Pankaj Aggarwal and why was he arrested?
Pankaj Aggarwal is a senior IAS officer who served as Principal Secretary of Haryana. He was arrested by the CBI on 23 June 2025 for allegedly facilitating the misappropriation of ₹60.54 crore from the Haryana School Shiksha Pariyojna Parishad and the Haryana State Agriculture Marketing Board through fraudulent accounts opened at IDFC First Bank's Chandigarh branch.
What is the IDFC First Bank Chandigarh fraud case?
It is a ₹504 crore banking fraud in which funds from eight Haryana government departments were allegedly siphoned off through the IDFC First Bank branch in Sector 32, Chandigarh, and routed to shell entities. The CBI took over the investigation from the Haryana State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau on the state government's reference.
Who was the first IAS officer arrested in this case?
IAS officer R.K. Singh was the first to be arrested, for allegedly misappropriating funds of the Municipal Corporation in Panchkula. He is currently in judicial custody. Pankaj Aggarwal's arrest is the second IAS-level detention in the same case.
How many people have been charge-sheeted so far?
The CBI has filed charge sheets against 17 accused to date, comprising six officials of IDFC First Bank and AU Small Finance Bank, three Haryana government public servants, two companies, and six private individuals.
Are there other cases linked to this investigation?
Yes. The CBI has also taken over two additional cases from Chandigarh — one relating to the Chandigarh Smart City project under the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, and another involving CREST Chandigarh — indicating the investigation is widening beyond the IDFC First Bank fraud.
