Chandigarh/Panchkula, July 1 -- The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested a senior IAS officer and two former bank officers in connection with the alleged embezzlement of Rs.504 crore from Haryana government accounts maintained in IDFC First Bank in Chandigarh, officials said on Tuesday. The alleged actions of the IAS officer, Pardeep Kumar, who was posted as member secretary, Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB), resulted in the misappropriation of funds and caused a net loss of approximately Rs.169 crore to the government, the CBI said in a statement. Kumar, who was placed under suspension by the Haryana government, was set to retire on Tuesday. A CBI spokesperson said that Kumar had been evading investigation for some time. He was arrested on Tuesday after the CBI traced his whereabouts. "The investigation has revealed that the actions of Pardeep Kumar, as member secretary, had a direct nexus with the fraud. He himself handled the entire investment-related work at his level. Funds for fixed deposits (FDs) were sent to IDFC First Bank far in excess of the prescribed limits," an CBI spokesperson said in the statement. "For creating the FDs, the funds of HSPCB were first transferred into an account opened at IDFC First Bank, Sector 32 Branch, Chandigarh, the statement said, adding that surprisingly, there is no record which the department could produce with regard to the opening of this account. "The conspiracy was so deep that the account was opened without any approvals and funds were transferred into the account in the guise of creating FDs. The investigation conducted so far has revealed that no FDs were created in this bank," the statement said. Instead, the agency alleged, fraudulent debit transactions were carried out from this account, resulting in the misappropriation of government funds and causing a net loss of approximately Rs.169 crore to the Haryana government. "This represents the single-largest financial loss suffered by any of the affected government departments of Haryana in the overall scam of Rs.504 crore," it said. Earlier on Monday, the agency had arrested two former banking executives, Shamim Dar, the then area head of IDFC First Bank, and Charanjeet Singh Randhawa, the then branch manager of AU Small Finance Bank's Mohali branch, in connection with the alleged embezzlement. "The arrests come after investigators uncovered incriminating evidence showing that both officials abused their positions to facilitate the opening of unauthorised bank accounts and execute fraudulent transactions. These accounts were designed to divert surplus public funds meant for secure investments," a CBI spokesperson said. Both the accused were produced before the duty magistrate in Panchkula court and were remanded in custody for three days. The CBI, in its remand paper stated that Dar, while serving as area head of IDFC First Bank's government banking group, was responsible for sourcing, generating and approving the opening of several government department accounts, including those of Kalka municipal corporation (MC), Panchkula MC, the Haryana Agricultural Marketing Board (HSAMB), the Haryana State Pollution Control Board, the HPGCL Employees Pension Fund Trust and the Haryana School Shiksha Pariyojna Parishad (HSSPP). The CBI alleged that both the accused siphoned the amount through irregular investment of surplus funds in FDs and through fraudulent transactions routed through bank accounts opened for this purpose. "Dar facilitated fraudulent transactions, including a forged debit of Rs.2.49 crore from the HSSPP account, played a key role in a Rs.10-crore cancelled-cheque debit from the HSAMB account, and enabled a backdated change of an authorised signatory," the CBI spokesperson said. The CBI also alleged that Randhawa, while serving as branch manager/authoriser at AU Small Finance Bank's Phase 11, Mohali branch, abused his official position by approving fraudulent debit transactions using forged cheques and fake debit notes. The CBI further alleged that Randhawa is accused of approving fraudulent debits worth around Rs.47.51 crore from the director panchayat MMGAY 2.0 account and authorising the transfer of Rs.25 crore from the HPGCL Employees Pension Fund Trust account to a shell company. Seeking police custody, the CBI submitted that custodial interrogation of both accused was essential to confront them with documentary and digital evidence. After considering the submissions, the court granted the CBI three days' police remand of both accused for further investigation. With the three latest arrests, the CBI has so far chargesheeted a total of 17 individuals in connection with the scam. The syndicate spans a network of complicity, including six bank officials from both IDFC First Bank and AU Small Finance Bank, three Haryana government public servants who allegedly compromised state oversight, two implicated corporate companies, and six private individuals who assisted in laundering the stolen public funds. According to the agency, the fraud was perpetrated through the IDFC First Bank's Sector-32 branch in Chandigarh, where funds amounting to Rs.504 crore belonging to eight Haryana government departments were allegedly siphoned off through forged or non-existent fixed deposits and debit notes before being routed to shell entities....