Key Points
CBI's chargesheet accuses six senior Haryana IAS officers of taking bribes and favors in exchange for moving Rs 504 crore in government funds into private banks.
These include two 50-gram gold coins allegedly delivered to Vineet Garg, hotel and restaurant bills allegedly paid for Mohammad Shayin, and mujra parties allegedly arranged for Pankaj Agarwal — all allegations, not proven facts.
Agarwal was arrested and suspended in June 2026; the other named officers have not been arrested so far.
A TAXPAYER PROBABLY THINKS that their hard-earned money is being used for public welfare and schemes. But that is not the case in Haryana, where several Indian Administration Services (IAS) Officers are utilizing crores worth for public funds for personal gratification, including trading gold bars, attending Mujra parties and throwing cash at female dancers, and racking upon excessive hotel bills and paying them from taxpayers’ money.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a chargesheet against six IAS Officers in Haryana who siphoned off Rs 504 crore worth of public funds from eight government departments. In the charges filed on September 2, 2026, the central agency said that the IAS officers allegedly acted in collusion with officials of IDFC First Bank and AU Small Finance Bank to illegally transfer funds belonging to eight Haryana government departments and public bodies from empanelled banks to selected branches of the two private lenders. The public servants then used the stolen public funds to purchase gold coins, attend dance parties, and pay exorbitant hotel bills.
According to an Indian Express report, the CBI chargesheet compiled call records, WhatsApp chats, witness testimonies, and recovered communications to detail alleged gratification networks involving senior IAS officers Vineet Garg, Mohammed Shayin, and Pankaj Agarwal.
The allegations include claims that two 50-gram gold coins were delivered to Garg, expensive hotel bills were allegedly paid for Shayin, and lavish mujra (dance) parties were purportedly arranged for Agarwal. The chargesheet also names another IAS officer, Dr Saket Kumar, alleging that he coerced another senior official into opening government bank accounts with private banks.
Agarwal was arrested and suspended in June 2026, while Garg, Shayin and Kumar have not been arrested so far.
The CBI has accused Garg of allegedly receiving illegal gratification in the form of two 50-gram gold coins, which were reportedly delivered to his residence through a man acting on the instructions of Ribhav Rishi, former IDFC First Bank branch manager. CBI described Rishi as the “principal architect and mastermind of the fraud.”
According to the CBI, Amritpal, who was a carrier for Rishi, told investigators that around four or five days before Diwali in 2025, Rishi instructed him to collect two 50-gram gold coins from Sawan Jewellers shop located in Sector-35, Chandigarh, and deliver them to a government bungalow in Sector-7A.
Amritpal collected a packet with the gold coins and then headed to the bungalow. The CBI said he arrived at around 7-7.30 pm and called Rishi, who asked him to enter the premises. Security personnel were stationed outside the bungalow, and Amritpal was allowed entry inside after Rishi’s instructions.
According to the chargesheet, two or three police control room vehicles were parked nearby and a security guard was stationed at the entrance. Following Rishi’s instructions, security personnel allowed Amritpal inside.
The CBI said Rishi then checked the contents of the packet, after which a man, allegedly Garg, came outside and was greeted by Rishi and Amritpal. Rishi then gave the packet bought by Amritpal to Vineet Garg after which the carrier left, the CBI said.
The agency said a technical examination of the call detail records of Amritpal, Rishi, Garg and accused Manish Jindal around 7 pm on October 16, 2025, supported their presence and movements at the relevant locations.
The CBI chargesheet also alleged that IAS Mohammed Shayin, the then Managing Director (MD) of Haryana Power Generation Corporation, took undue advantage of his position as a public servant.
A bill dated November 3, 2025, issued by Koyo Koyo Restaurant at Hyatt Centric in Chandigarh’s Sector-17, lists Shayin as the guest and records his mobile number. The total bill of Rs 35,629 was paid in cash. The CBI said its investigation found that the people accompanying Shayin were seated in the restaurant’s outdoor section and that all their expenses were covered by Ribhav Rishi.
The CBI also said an assistant manager at the hotel provided information about a party held at Corby’s Restaurant on January 10, 2025, organized for Shayin and his wife. The total bill came down to Rs 58,399, including Rs 35,444 for food and Rs 22,955 for liquor, with both amounts paid in cash.
According to the assistant manager, Shayin was informed after the party that “everything was taken care of by Mr Ribhav Rishi.” The event was also supported by a WhatsApp conversation in which the general manager of Hyatt Centric asked Shayin about the party. Shayin responded that everything was good, the chargesheet said.
Another bill, dated May 8, 2025, for Table No. 42 was issued in Shayin’s name for Rs 73,073. The amount was initially settled in cash, while the investigation alleged that Rishi provided the corresponding cash around seven to eight days later. The CBI alleged that the bill was in Shayin’s name but was paid by Rishi.
The CBI accused that Saket conspired with bankers and other officials to illegally misappropriate funds belonging to the Development and Panchayat Department under the Mukhya Mantri Gramin Awas Yojana 2.0. The investigating agency has also alleged that he “influenced” another senior IAS officer, D K Behera, to open accounts with two private banks.
According to the CBI, Behera told investigators that “he was competent to open the account in the suitable bank, however, since Dr Saket Kumar has asked that the account should be opened with Axis Bank (for land compensation fund) and IDFC First Bank and AU Small Finance Bank (for infrastructure development fund), the file was processed accordingly, and he had sent the file to Kumar to take approval. The final authority had informed his wish so he did not have any further scope to change”.
The agency alleged that the matter was brought to Saket by Naresh Kumar, Superintendent in the Right to Information (RTI) Wing, who had no official role in the Mukhya Mantri Gramin Awas Yojana scheme and was allegedly acting on behalf of Rishi. “The matter did not reach [Saket] Kumar through the [panchayat department] Directorate or through any official reference in the ordinary course,” the CBI said.
The CBI further alleged that Saket personally contacted Behera and coerced him into opening accounts with the two private banks. The claim was also supported by Superintendent Manoj Kaushal, who told investigators that officials from both banks said they had come “through the reference of Saket Kumar” to collect documents required for opening the accounts.
A voice conversation between Naresh and Rishi recovered by the CBI contains references to instructions allegedly attributed to “Saket Sir”, including “raita na felne do, isko niptao, ye raita faila dega” (Don’t let things get out of hand—wrap this up, or else he’ll create a huge mess). Investigators interpreted that the remarks were directions to conceal fraud instead of reporting it.
The CBI has alleged that Agarwal, with the help of bank officials including Rishi and Randhir Singh, facilitated the opening of an account and movement of funds that violated the finance department guidelines. In return, Rishi and his associates allegedly provided Agarwal illegal gratification through mujra (dance) parties, liquor, stays at luxury hotels and covered his expenses, with Rishi allegedly paying for most of them in cash.
According to the investigation, the alleged gratification given to Agarwal included four dance parties that Rishi allegedly arranged and paid for at the Jade Manor in Zirakpur, Punjab. The CBI said Agarwal also attended the events.
Seven to eight female dancers were allegedly brought from Delhi through an acquaintance of Rishi. At each event, around Rs 15-20 lakh in cash, mainly Rs 20, Rs 50 and Rs 100 notes, were allegedly showered over the dancers.
The CBI alleged that Rishi covered the expenses for the events, including payments for dancers, artists, catering and liquor, with most transactions made in cash. Catering was allegedly arranged through Manish Saini, manager at Foodlink F&B Limited, while Rishi’s employees reportedly delivered the liquor and cash.
(Edited by Harsh Pandey)
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