New Delhi, June 23 (). The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested IAS officer Pankaj Aggarwal on Monday. This arrest has been made in the case of misuse of government funds from the accounts of Haryana School Education Project Council (HSSPP) and Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board (HSAMB) located in Sector 32 branch of IDFC First Bank, Chandigarh. Aggarwal will be produced in the court today, Tuesday.
CBI had taken this case into its hands on the request of Haryana Government. Investigation revealed that these accounts were opened in violation of the existing rules of the Finance Department of Haryana Government and subsequently funds were transferred in excess of the prescribed limit. These accounts were opened during the tenure of Pankaj Aggarwal, who was the Principal Secretary at that time. The investigation revealed that funds were misappropriated through fraudulent transactions in the accounts of these departments, causing a loss of Rs 60.54 crore to the government. During the investigation, concrete evidence has been collected against Pankaj Aggarwal.
It is noteworthy that on the request of the state government, CBI had taken over the investigation from the State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau of Haryana. The fraud case in these two departments involved embezzlement of approximately Rs 60.54 crore. This case was part of a bigger scam in the IDFC First Bank branch located in Sector 32, in which funds amounting to Rs 504 crore belonging to 8 departments of the Haryana Government were embezzled and transferred to shell companies (fake companies). So far, CBI has filed chargesheet against 17 accused in this Haryana case, which include 6 bank officials of IDFC First Bank/AU Small Finance Bank, 3 government employees of Haryana Government, 2 companies and 6 private individuals.
Senior IAS officer RK Singh, who was arrested in the case of misuse of funds in Panchkula Municipal Corporation, has been sent to judicial custody after the end of his police remand.
CBI has taken over two more cases from the Union Territory of Chandigarh. One of these cases is related to Chandigarh Smart City Limited (CSCL)/Chandigarh Municipal Corporation and the other is related to CREST Chandigarh.
CBI has also filed one charge sheet each in these cases. CBI has filed a charge sheet against five bankers, an officer and a private person in the CSCL case. Chargesheet has been filed against 5 bankers, 2 officials, 4 private individuals and 2 companies in the CREST case. Also, a senior officer has already been arrested.
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OP/PM