Gold coins to mujra parties: CBI’s allegations against Haryana IAS officers

The CBI chargesheet filed on September 2 cites call records, WhatsApp chats, witness statements, and recovered conversations to map out alleged gratification networks involving senior IAS officers Vineet Garg, Mohammed Shayin and Pankaj Agarwal.

The allegations range from two 50-gram gold coins allegedly delivered to Garg, to hotel bills allegedly settled for Shayin, and lavish mujra parties allegedly organised for Agarwal. The chargesheet also names Dr Saket Kumar, accusing him of influencing another senior officer in connection with the opening of government accounts with private banks.

While Agarwal was arrested and suspended in June, Garg, Shayin and Kumar have not been arrested yet. Garg, Shayin, and Kumar did not respond to text messages or phone calls seeking their comments.

Gold coins delivered to a government bungalow

The CBI has charged Garg with allegedly accepting illegal gratification in the form of two 50-gram gold coins delivered to his residence through a man at the behest of Ribhav Rishi, a former branch manager of IDFC First Bank described as the “principal architect and mastermind of the fraud”.

According to the CBI, Amritpal, who allegedly worked as a carrier for Rishi, stated that about four or five days before Diwali in 2025, Rishi directed him to collect two gold coins of 50 grams each from Sawan Jewellers in Chandigarh’s Sector-35, and deliver them to a government bungalow in Sector-7A, Chandigarh.

Accordingly, Amritpal said he travelled from his office to Sawan Jewellers, collected a packet with the gold coins from Arun Kumar, an employee, and proceeded to the bungalow. According to the CBI, Amritpal reached the bungalow at about 7-7.30 pm and called Rishi, who allegedly instructed him to come inside. Two to three police control room vehicles were allegedly parked nearby, with a security guard at the entrance. On Rishi’s instructions, security personnel allowed Amritpal to enter the premises.

As Rishi allegedly verified the contents of the packet, a thin person matching Garg’s description walked out into the garden area, as per the chargesheet. Rishi and Amritpal allegedly greeted the person. “Ribhav Rishi handed over the contents of the packet to Vineet Garg,” the CBI chargesheet states. Rishi allegedly gestured to Amritpal to leave, upon which he left.

A technical analysis of the call detail records of Amritpal, Rishi, Garg, and accused Manish Jindal around 7 pm on October 16, 2025, corroborated their presence and movements, the CBI said.

Paid hotel bills running into thousands

The CBI alleged that Shayin, the then MD of Haryana Power Generation Corporation Limited, obtained and accepted undue advantage from Rishi while serving as a public servant.

A bill dated November 3, 2025, from Koyo Koyo Restaurant, located within Hyatt Centric in Chandigarh’s Sector-17, records the guest name as Shayin and his mobile number, with a total amount of Rs 35,629 paid in cash. The CBI investigation claimed that the people accompanying Shayin were seated in the restaurant’s outdoor area and that Rishi made the payment.

According to the CBI, an assistant food and beverages manager at the hotel provided details of a party held at Corby’s Restaurant on January 10, 2025, related to Shayin and his wife. The total expenditure was Rs 58,399, comprising a food bill of Rs 35,444 and a liquor bill of Rs 22,955, both paid in cash.

The assistant manager informed the CBI that after the party, Shayin was told that “everything was taken care of by Mr Ribhav Rishi”. The party is further corroborated by a WhatsApp exchange in which the general manager of Hyatt Centric asked Shayin about the party, to which he replied that everything was good, the CBI said.

Another hotel bill dated May 8, 2025, for Table No. 42, was issued in Shayin’s name for Rs 73,073. The bill was initially paid in cash, and the investigation claimed that the corresponding cash was received from Rishi about seven to eight days later. Thus, the expenditure was incurred in Shayin’s name and paid for by Rishi, the CBI said.

IAS officer ‘influenced’ colleague to open private bank accounts

The CBI has accused Saket of “conspiring with the bankers and others to dishonestly misappropriate funds” of the Development and Panchayat Department under the Mukhya Mantri Gramin Awas Yojana 2.0. The CBI has further alleged that he “influenced” another senior IAS officer, D K Behera, to open accounts with two private banks.

According to the CBI, Behera has categorically stated 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 allegation is that the matter was brought to Saket by Naresh Kumar, Superintendent in the RTI Wing, who had no official connection with 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,” says the CBI.

The CBI further alleges that Saket then personally called Behera and influenced him to open accounts with the two private banks. This was allegedly corroborated by Superintendent Manoj Kaushal, who said officials of both banks stated that they had come “through the reference of Saket Kumar” to collect the account-opening documents.

A recovered voice conversation between Naresh and Rishi records instructions attributed to “Saket Sir”, including “raita na felne do, isko niptao, ye raita faila dega”. The investigators interpreted these remarks as instructions to contain and suppress the fraud rather than report it. The investigation also allegedly found that Saket was a member of the ‘Sukoon Group’ WhatsApp chat along with officials of IDFC First Bank, “establishing his proximity with the accused bank officials”.

Mujra parties, lakhs showered in cash

The CBI investigation alleges that Agarwal, acting with bank officials including Rishi and Randhir Singh, facilitated the opening of the account and transfer of funds in violation of finance department guidelines. In return, Rishi and his associates allegedly provided him illegal gratification in the form of mujra or dance parties, liquor, luxury hotel stays and related expenses, which were allegedly borne almost entirely in cash by Rishi.

The gratification allegedly extended to Agarwal is reflected in four instances during the period of the banking conspiracy, which included four dance parties organised and financed by Rishi at Jade Manor, Zirakpur, allegedly on Agarwal’s demand. Agarwal allegedly attended the events.

At these parties, seven to eight women dancers were allegedly arranged from Delhi through Rishi’s friend, while some other female artists were arranged by Varun. On each occasion, Rs 15 to Rs 20 lakh in cash, in denominations of Rs 20, Rs 50 and Rs 100, was allegedly showered on the dancers.

According to the CBI, the expenditure of these parties, including dancers, artists, catering and liquor, was allegedly borne by Rishi, with payments made almost entirely in cash. Catering was allegedly provided by Manish Saini, manager, Foodlink F&B Limited, while liquor and cash were delivered by Rishi’s employees.