Panchkula, Aug. 7 -- A special CBI court on Thursday rejected the bail application of suspended 2000-batch IAS officer Pankaj Agarwal, who was arrested on June 22 in the Rs.645-crore IDFC First Bank fraud case. The court observed that the gravity of the allegations, his alleged role, and the ongoing investigation did not warrant his release at this stage.

Agarwal is accused of facilitating the opening of unauthorised bank accounts that allegedly enabled the diversion of around Rs.60.54 crore belonging to the Haryana School Shiksha Pariyojna Parishad (HSSPP) and the Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board (HSAMB).

The alleged fraud forms part of a much larger scam, with the CBI investigating the siphoning off of nearly Rs.645 crore fr...