The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday arrested Parveen Kumar, the then Senior Accounts Officer, Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB), in connection with the Rs 657 crore bank scam.The misappropriation of Rs 169 crore from the HSPCB account maintained with the IDFC First Bank branch in Sector 32, Chandigarh, is part of the bank scam.The CBI investigation has revealed that Parveen Kumar opened the HSPCB account concerned in a “clandestine manner, without any record or approval in the department,” and that it was operated to facilitate the subsequent fraudulent transactions.“The funds of the Board were misappropriated using cheques/debit notes, and the debited amounts were diverted to shell entities controlled and operated by the accused,” said the CBI.The agency added, “Even though the account was opened by Mr Parveen Kumar as signatory, the mobile number of another accused who was not working in the department was registered in the account so as to avoid detection of fraudulent transactions in the account.”Parveen Kumar is the third officer from the HSPCB to be arrested.Earlier, retired IAS officer Pardeep Kumar, who served as Member Secretary in the HSPCB, was arrested on June 30, the day he superannuated. He had been on the run since the evening of June 24.The CBI traced him through local sources, technical data, analysis of call detail records and location tracking.Pardeep Kumar was part of the decision-making in the investment process of the Board’s funds. He allegedly personally opened the Fixed Deposit (FD) rate quotations from banks, prepared the comparative chart in his own notes, and proposed each investment. He was fully aware of the Finance Department’s circular, dated July 12, 2024, prescribing investment ceilings, namely Rs 50 crore for newly empanelled banks including IDFC First Bank, and Rs 25 crore for Small FInanced Banks. As per the CBI, he concentrated funds in the IDFC First Bank in breach of Rs 50 crore ceiling, taking the exposure well beyond Rs 100 crore. The Rs 50 crore limit was removed only on October 9, 2025, after the breaches had already been committed.On multiple occasions, he considered and accepted quotations of IDFC First Bank which had been expressly placed on the exclusion list and to whom no valid invitation had been sent, said the CBI.The agency claimed that he had himself approved the exclusion of IDFC First Bank from the list of invitees.According to the CBI, he accepted, in support of the investment decisions, a quotation letter from IDFC First Bank that bore no stamp, branch name, or name of the signing official, demonstrating that the competitive process was designed to favour pre-decided banks.The CBI claimed that he manipulated the comparative analysis to favour IDFC First Bank, including by misrepresenting competitors’ quotations. He allegedly parked Rs 8 crore of surplus funds in the IDFC First Bank savings account without inviting any quotation on a mere presumption of the highest rate, evidencing a sustained pattern of favouritism.A Data Entry Operator at the HSPCB, Saurav Sharma, was arrested on June 23.According to the CBI, he “facilitated and assisted” in processing investments in favour of private banks in contravention of the Finance Department’s instructions. He was aware of the limits prescribed by the Finance Department but did not mention them as part of a conspiracy, thereby enabling a deposit exceeding Rs 50 crore at IDFC First Bank.The CBI probe found that from March 13, 2025, to February 13, 2026, several fraudulent debit transactions siphoned off Rs 187.26 crore from HSPCB’s account to various entities, including shell entities, floated by the accused persons.However, there were also credit transactions of Rs 17.90 crore. The total loss in the account was Rs 169.36 crore.