Haryana Government Suspends Two Senior IAS Officers Amid IDFC Bank Fraud Probe
Major administrative reshuffle rocks state bureaucracy as CBI investigation looms over ₹590 crore banking scandal
The Haryana government has suspended two senior Indian Administrative Service officers in connection with an alleged bank fraud involving government funds, triggering widespread unease across the state’s bureaucratic establishment.
The officers named in the suspension orders — Pradeep Kumar-I (2011 batch) and Ram Kumar Singh (2012 batch) — have been placed under suspension under the All India Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1969. The orders were issued by Chief Secretary Anurag Rastogi’s office, though the official letters do not specify the grounds for suspension. During the suspension period, both officers will be headquartered at the Services-I branch of the Chief Secretary’s office in Chandigarh and will receive subsistence allowance as per applicable rules.
Pradeep Kumar-I had been serving as Director and Special Secretary in the State Transport Department, while Ram Kumar Singh held the position of Special Secretary in the Revenue and Disaster Management Department, with an additional charge as CEO of the Panchkula Metropolitan Development Authority (PMDA).
A Sweeping Reshuffle
The suspensions follow a midnight reshuffle on Wednesday in which the state government transferred 15 IAS officers and issued fresh postings. Notably, three senior officials were effectively sidelined — Additional Principal Secretary Saket Kumar, Senior IAS officer Pankaj Aggarwal, and D.K. Behra were all moved out of key portfolios and assigned comparatively lower-profile departments. Saket Kumar, who was attached to the Chief Minister’s Office, was shifted to the Archives Department. Aggarwal was posted to the Architecture Department and Behra to Revenue and Disaster Management. Senior IAS officer Vineet Garg (1991 batch) was also moved, transferred from the Pollution Control Board to the Printing Department.
Sources indicate that these officers had previously held senior positions in departments whose government accounts were held with IDFC Bank at the time the alleged fraud took place, primarily through their earlier stints in the Panchayat Department.
The IDFC Bank Scandal
At the heart of this administrative storm is a multi-crore banking fraud involving 18 state government departments. Approximately ₹590 crore in public funds were deposited with IDFC Bank ostensibly for investment in Fixed Deposits. The irregularity came to light when one department requested account closure and a transfer of funds to another bank — during which a significant discrepancy emerged between the balance on record and the actual amount held.
By February 18, 2026, several other state entities had raised similar concerns, revealing a pattern of mismatched balances across multiple accounts.
Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini subsequently handed over the case to the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), which registered a case and arrested bank manager Ribhav Rishi. Investigations revealed that Rishi had diverted government funds — instead of placing them in Fixed Deposits — for personal financial gain, in alleged collusion with government officials and other associates.
Further arrests followed. Relationship manager Abhay was taken into custody for facilitating the scheme, having recruited his wife Swati Singla and brother-in-law Abhishek into the operation. Swati Singla had incorporated a company called Swastik Desh Projects, in which she held a 75 percent stake, and had allegedly used it to channel diverted funds into real estate and stock market investments.
Rishi himself had left the bank six months prior to the arrests, raising further questions about oversight and institutional accountability.
With CBI investigation reportedly imminent, the Haryana government’s preemptive moves against its own officers signal that the fallout from the scandal is far from over.
