Chandigarh, June 26: Suspended IAS officer Pardeep Kumar has allegedly gone into hiding following a string of high-profile arrests connected to a multi-crore bank fraud. The 2011-batch bureaucrat reportedly switched off his mobile phone and vacated his residence to evade law enforcement agencies tracking his whereabouts.
The development follows the recent detention of fellow IAS officers Ram Kumar Singh and Pankaj Agarwal, who are both currently held in judicial custody. Investigators stated that the sweeping multi-agency probe involves the siphoning of over Rs 650 crore from eight Haryana state departments and two Chandigarh Administration accounts through alleged collusion between government staff and private bank executives.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has focused heavily on the fugitive official’s previous tenure as Member Secretary of the Haryana State Pollution Control Board. “Kumar had been missing from his home, was on the run while his phone was also switched off,” a senior CBI source affirmed, linking him to a specific loss of Rs 169.36 crore within the pollution board’s accounts.
According to investigative findings, the embezzled public funds were routed into several shell companies, including Capco Fintech Services and Swastik Desh Projects. Officials maintained that a total of eight IAS officers are currently under scrutiny in connection with the fraudulent transfers involving IDFC First Bank and AU Small Finance Bank, with additional arrests expected as the investigation progresses.
