Haryana: IAS officer arrested by the CBI just hours before his retirement !

Accused of embezzling ₹169 crore

I.A.S. Officer Pradeep Kumar arrested

Chandigarh (Haryana) – The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested senior IAS officer Pradeep Kumar, the then Member of the Haryana State Pollution Control Board, on 30 June. Significantly, Pradeep Kumar, who had been absconding for several days, was due to retire from service on the same day. This is the first case in Haryana in which an IAS officer has been arrested on the day of his retirement. He is the third IAS officer to be arrested in connection with this scam. Pradeep Kumar is accused of abusing his official position while serving in the Pollution Control Board and embezzling ₹169 crore. The CBI has taken major action in connection with an alleged ₹504 crore scam involving eight different departments of the Haryana Government.

Just hours before retirement, a senior IAS officer Pradeep Kumar gets arrested by the CBI in Haryana over a ₹169 crore scam.

If the highest levels of the administrative service are this deeply mired in corruption, what hope is left for the system? 📉#CBIArrest #HaryanaNews… pic.twitter.com/v32zVCVrXY

— Sanatan Prabhat (@SanatanPrabhat) July 1, 2026

1. Pradeep Kumar was personally handling all investment-related transactions of the Board. Under the pretext of creating fixed deposits, he transferred an amount exceeding the permissible limit to an IDFC Bank branch in Sector 32, Chandigarh. The account into which the money was deposited had neither been officially approved by the Pollution Control Board nor recorded in its official records. In reality, no fixed deposits were ever created. Money was withdrawn from this unauthorised account using forged signatures and diverted to various fictitious entities. This allegedly caused a loss of ₹169 crore to the Haryana Government.

2. According to the CBI investigation, the scam was not confined to the Pollution Control Board alone. It has come to light that approximately ₹504 crore belonging to eight different departments of the Haryana Government was siphoned off through fake fixed deposits at the IDFC Bank branch in Chandigarh.

Editorial Perspective

The IAS is the highest rank in the Indian Administrative Service. If officers serving in such positions themselves are indulging in corruption, it is better not to imagine how deeply corruption has permeated the administration.