New Delhi: The CBI has arrested Pradeep Kumar, an IAS officer and former Member Secretary of the Haryana State Pollution Control Board, in a case linked to alleged misappropriation of government funds.
According to investigators, multiple Haryana government departments had opened accounts with the private lender IDFC First Bank. Authorities later found that Rs 504 crore had gone missing through fake deposit schemes and unauthorised transactions, though the amount was subsequently recovered and credited back to the respective departmental accounts.
The case was handed over to the CBI by Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini. The agency has already arrested several people, including IAS officers, government officials and bank staff, in connection with the broader probe.
In the separate case involving the Pollution Control Board, the CBI alleged that Pradeep Kumar approved converting Rs 169 crore of government funds into deposits at IDFC First Bank’s Sector-32 branch in Chandigarh. However, no fixed deposits were created, and the money was instead transferred to an account opened without the board’s approval and then routed through multiple accounts.
CBI officials said Kumar did not cooperate despite repeated notices to join the investigation. They added that he was traced and arrested on his last working day, a day before his retirement, after he approached a Panchkula court seeking anticipatory bail.
