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Dubai trail, missing records: Why IAS officer was arrested in Panchkula MC scam

IAS officer Ram Kumar Singh, who was arrested in the Rs 79 crore Panchkula MC fraud connected with IDFC Bank scam, was remanded to three days CBI custody.

Ram Kumar Singh began his government career as a taxation inspector in the Haryana Excise and Taxation Department on May 23, 1995.

Written by: Varinder Bhatia

4 min readChandigarhJun 19, 2026 05:25 PM IST First published on: Jun 19, 2026 at 05:24 PM IST

Senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Ram Kumar Singh’s arrest in the Rs 79.46 crore Panchkula Municipal Corporation (MC) fraud connected with the IDFC Bank’s Rs 590 crore scam marks a first.

He is the first Haryana cadre IAS officer to be arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the case and comes as at least five other IAS officers from the state cadre remain under scrutiny for their alleged role in the multi‑crore financial scam.

A special CBI court on Friday remanded Singh, who was arrested on Thursday, to three days’ custody for further interrogation.

Before joining the IAS, Singh served in the Haryana Excise and Taxation Department and later as a Haryana Civil Service (Executive) officer. Over a public service career spanning more than three decades, he held various administrative positions in the Haryana government, including serving as Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation, Panchkula, and Municipal Council, Kalka.

In April, Singh came under the radar of the investigating agencies in connection with the alleged Panchkula Municipal Corporation fund scam. The Haryana government suspended him on April 8.

Also Read | IAS officer arrested in Rs 79-crore Panchkula scam

Assets worth crores

Singh began his government career as a taxation inspector in the Haryana Excise and Taxation Department on May 23, 1995. He served in the department for approximately four years, till May 30, 1999. He was selected to the Haryana Civil Service (Executive) in 1999 and joined the Haryana government on June 1 of the same year. On May 8, 2019, he was inducted into the IAS and allotted the 2012 batch.

In his annual property returns—a mandatory requirement for IAS officers that is uploaded online and available in the public domain—Singh declared his movable and immovable assets. He disclosed that his wife has been independently engaged in business activities for several years and is associated with petrol pump operations, a microbrewery business, a restaurant, rental projects, agricultural land holdings, and property sale and purchase activities.

He added that his wife is an independent GST registrant and taxpayer, files income tax returns independently, and maintains her own assets and liabilities separate from him. Singh also declared that both his sons are income-tax assessees and the property owned by him forms part of a Hindu Undivided Family. In January 2026, Singh declared his total assets worth Rs 3.2 crore, of which a substantial portion is ancestral property.

Also Read | Haryana recommends CBI probe in Rs 590 crore IDFC First Bank fraud; Kotak Mahindra bank official named in another scam

Benami properties under scanner

Earlier this year, Singh became the subject of a CBI investigation concerning alleged irregularities in the handling and transfer of government funds.

CBI sources said that the agency required Singh’s custody because important phone messages and communication records connected to him were found missing and are required to be recovered.

While seeking his custody, the CBI also informed the court that as a senior IAS officer, Singh could potentially influence witnesses and other persons connected to the investigation. The CBI also pleaded in the court that Singh’s custodial interrogation was necessary to recover evidence and establish facts related to the alleged conspiracy in the entire scandal because Singh was serving as commissioner of the municipal corporation, Panchkula, and municipal council, Kalka, during the period when the alleged scam took place.

The CBI has accused Singh of conspiring with the co-accused to facilitate the opening of a new bank account at IDFC First Bank’s Sector 32 branch in Chandigarh, where the government funds were transferred, and later allegedly moved to private individuals’ bank accounts in violation of government guidelines.

CBI sources added that certain benami properties, transfer of a huge amount of money from India to Dubai, and certain agricultural land purchases allegedly executed by Singh were also under the scanner.