The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has conducted searches in Panchkula and Chandigarh in connection with the Rs 645 crore IDFC First Bank and AU Small Finance Bank scam.The searches, conducted at seven locations on May 14, as per the CBI, included “residential premises, jewellers’ business establishments/showrooms, premises of suspected beneficiaries of the misappropriated government funds, and other private entities connected with the investigation.”Haryana grants permission to investigate 5 IASMeanwhile, the Haryana government has granted the CBI permission under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act to investigate the role of five IAS officers, Pankaj Aggarwal, Vineet Garg, Mohd Shayin, RK Singh and Pardeep Kumar. The state government had earlier suspended Singh and Kumar in the case.Section 17A of the PC Act says that no police officer shall conduct any enquiry, inquiry, or investigation into any offence alleged to have been committed by a public servant under this Act, without the previous approval.Sources confirmed that the CBI had moved the request against the IAS officers based on the accused’s disclosure statements. The agency’s officials had collected the orders regarding permission by hand from the Haryana government.It is alleged that government department accounts in the IDFC First Bank and AU Small Finance Bank scam were opened and transactions took place during the tenure of the IAS officers in the departments concerned.Besides the five IAS officers, it is learnt that CBI has moved for permission to investigate three more IAS officers.The CBI registered the FIR in the case on April 8. Earlier, the State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (SV&ACB) investigated the case, following an FIR on February 23.In addition to the CBI, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is also investigating the case.According to the ED, government department funds were required to be maintained in FDRs; however, these FDRs were never created. Instead, forged FDRs were misrepresented to the concerned departments, while the corresponding funds were simultaneously siphoned off through transfers to various entities and individuals, including shell entities, through a complex web of transactions, said ED.According to the ED, 11 government departments in Haryana and Chandigarh, and two schools suffered a loss of Rs 645.59 crore at the hands of the accused.A total of Rs 169.27 was embezzled from Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB), Rs 50 crore from Haryana Power Generation Corporation Limited (HPGCL), Rs 10 crore from Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board (HSAMB), Rs 80 crore from Municipal Corporation, Panchkula, Rs 48.72 crore from Haryana Rural Development Fund Administration Board, Rs 53.86 crore from Haryana School Shiksha Pariyojna Parishad (HSSPP), Rs 18.10 crore from Municipal Council, Kalka, Rs 50 crore from Haryana Labour Welfare Board, Rs 82.02 crore from Chandigarh Renewable Energy and Science and Tech Promotion Society (CREST), Rs 73.50 crore from Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh, Rs 7.80 crore from DC Model Senior Secondary School, Rs 1.99 crore from DC Montessori School, and Rs 32.80 lakh more from another account of HSPCB.