Haryana 2000-batch IAS officer Pankaj Agarwal, who was arrested by the CBI last night, not only facilitated the opening of School Shiksha Pariyojna Parishad and State Agriculture Marketing Board accounts in IDFC First Bank, but was also allegedly aware of the fraudulent transactions that caused a loss of Rs 60.54 crore, the central probe agency has found.The loss is part of the Rs 657-crore bank scam in which officials of IDFC and AU Small Finance Bank allegedly colluded with state government officials and IAS officers to siphon off funds from eight Haryana and two Chandigarh Administration departments. The Enforcement Directorate has put the loss at Rs 645 crore.A Panchkula court on Tuesday sent Agarwal to two-day CBI custody. He will be again produced in the court on June 25.The CBI has found that Agarwal, during his stint as Principal Secretary, School Education, from December 10, 2024, to June 16, 2025, allegedly conspired with scam mastermind and bank branch manager Ribhav Rishi for opening a new account at IDFC’s Sector 32 office in Chandigarh.Agarwal allegedly approved the transfer of Rs 100 crore into the account. The account was opened in alleged violation of the Finance Department’s guidelines and with an intention to misappropriate funds, the CBI told the court. Neither was any competitive process followed nor were quotations invited from empanelled banks for opening a new account, the agency claimed.The transfer also “violated” the prescribed investment ceiling. The permissible limit for deposits at IDFC bank was Rs 50 crore and Agarwal approved the transfer of Rs 100 crore from a Kotak Mahindra Bank account, the CBI said. “He pressurised a subordinate officer. He also insisted the account be opened without obtaining approval from the Finance Department,” said the CBI.After the deposit, there were 101 fraudulent debit transactions totalling Rs 182.93 crore and 33 fraudulent credit transactions totalling Rs 132.39 crore, resulting in embezzlement of Rs 50.54 crore, according to the agency. “There is evidence that shows he received pecuniary gratification in lieu of opening the account,” said the agency.After serving in the school education department, Agarwal joined the Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Department on June 20, 2025. According to the CBI, he “personally intervened” to open a new department account with IDFC. “The proposal for opening the account was processed after his intervention on July 10 even as the examination of available balance as of June 30 revealed no necessity for opening an additional account. No specific scheme or operational requirement was cited; and the Haryana State Agriculture Marketing Board was already maintaining multiple savings bank accounts,” the CBI claimed.Through a cancelled cheque No. 000006, Rs 10 crore was fraudulently withdrawn on January 14, 2026, in favour of M/s SRR Planning Gurus Pvt Ltd and M/s Mannat Contractors, both shell entities floated by Ribhav Rishi and others to siphon off funds, the CBI claimed.The probe agency said Agarwal “had knowledge about the diversion of funds through debit transactions and was in touch with the accused bank officials”. “He received illegal gratification as a quid pro quo for his participation in the conspiracy,” it said.Accusing Agarwal of destruction of evidence, the CBI said analysis of his mobile phone revealed “he had deleted incriminating chats and call logs, and failed to furnish any explanation for this”.Earlier, the opposition Congress had accused Agarwal (as returning officer) of favouring BJP-backed Independent candidate Satish Nandal in the March 16 Rajya Sabha elections by “invalidating” Congress votes. However, the Congress won the seat.Rohtak MP Deepender Hooda posted on X, “The arrest has exposed the BJP’s corrupt face. During the Rajya Sabha elections, this officer had made a concerted effort to ensure the victory of a BJP-backed candidate. The incident brought back memories of the brazen theft of councillors’ votes by returning officer Anil Masih during the Chandigarh mayoral election. The BJP government exploited this corrupt officer to serve its own political interests by using the threat of action against him as leverage. Instead of penalising him, the BJP government rewarded this corrupt officer by entrusting him with key departments such as Irrigation, Water Resources and Mining & Geology.”