The CBI has arrested Pankaj Agarwal IAS an ex Principal Secretary in Department of School Education and Agriculture arrested by in connection with the alleged misappropriation of government funds from accounts maintained by two state bodies at a private bank branch in Chandigarh. He will be produced before the court today by the CBI who had taken over the case from the the State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau, Haryana on request of the Government of Haryana.
Agarwal is accused of 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. The scam forms the part of a larger scam at the Sector 32 IDFC First Bank branch, in which funds to the tune of Rs. 504 crores of 8 Haryana Government departments were siphoned off and routed to shell entities.
Probe 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. All this took place during the tenure of Pankaj Aggarwal, the then Principal Secretary. A net loss of Rs 60.54 crores to government was revealed during the investigation which also unearthed incriminating evidence against the ex Principal Secretary.
Nearly 17 accused have charge sheeted by the CBI in the case including 6 bank officials of IDFC First Bank/AU Small Finance Bank,3 public servants of the Haryana government, 2 companies and 6 Private persons.