CBI arrests Haryana IAS officer in Rs 79 crore Panchkula bank fraud case

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested Haryana cadre IAS officer R K Singh in connection with an alleged ₹79.46 crore banking fraud linked to the Panchkula Municipal Corporation, officials said on Thursday.

The agency said Singh, who was serving as Municipal Commissioner of Panchkula at the relevant time, is accused of facilitating the diversion of government funds through fake fixed deposits and routing the money to shell companies in alleged connivance with bank officials. The case pertains to alleged misuse of municipal funds held in an IDFC First Bank branch in Sector-32, where procedural violations and manipulation of account records are suspected.

Advertisement

Officials stated that Singh was arrested after evidence emerged regarding his alleged role in approving and enabling financial transactions linked to fictitious fixed deposits. The Haryana government had placed him under suspension on April 9, 2026, following the surfacing of irregularities in the case.

The CBI alleged that signed cheques meant for the creation of fixed deposits were issued through intermediaries, but no actual FDs were created. Instead, funds were allegedly withdrawn from municipal accounts and transferred into entities described by investigators as shell companies. A senior accountant of the municipal body is also stated to have been actively involved in the alleged conspiracy and has already been arrested.

Following the arrest, CBI teams conducted searches at Singh’s residential premises in Chandigarh and Karnal, during which documents and other materials considered relevant to the probe were recovered.

The agency had earlier taken over the investigation from the Haryana State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau. Officials said the probe is also connected to related financial irregularities under investigation in Chandigarh Smart City Limited (CSCL) and CREST Chandigarh cases, where similar patterns of fund diversion through banking channels are under scrutiny.

Investigators said the Panchkula case forms part of a larger alleged ₹504 crore banking fraud involving the Sector-32 IDFC First Bank branch, where funds from multiple Haryana government departments are suspected to have been siphoned off using fake fixed deposits and debit instruments.

So far, the CBI has filed chargesheets against 17 accused in the case, including bank officials, government employees, private individuals, and companies. Further investigation is underway to trace the wider network and financial trail, officials said.