The Haryana State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (SVACB) has filed an FIR against unnamed officials of Kotak Mahindra Bank after Panchkula Municipal Corporation reported discrepancies worth Rs 150 crore in its fixed deposit receipts (FDRs), an official Wednesday said. Municiapl commissioner Vinay Kumar said a mismatch in civic body’s record and the balance reflected by the bank’s sector 12 branch in Panchkula has been found.The FIR was registered at police station, ACB, Panchkula, under BNS sections 316 (5) (criminal breach of trust), 318 (4) (cheating), 336 (3) (forgery), 338 (forgery of valuable security, will etc), 340 (forged document or electronic record), and 61 (criminal conspiracy) and under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988’s 13 (2) and 13 (1) (a).In a late development on Wednesday, state vigilance Director General AS Chawla said: “An accused Dileep Kumar Raghav has been arrested. He was the relationship manager in Kotak Mahindra Bank at the time of commission of offence. He had sent false reports to the municipal corporation regarding FDs in conspiracy with the key accused”.The Haryana government on Tuesday had referred the case to the SVACB for lodging an FIR “in the matter pertaining to non-reconciliation of funds and for conducting a thorough investigation into the discrepancies related to the FDRs…as well as the bank accounts maintained with Kotak Mahindra Bank”.The Kotak Mahindra Bank, in a statement, said that a detailed reconciliation of fixed deposits and linked bank accounts maintained by the municipal corporation was carried out and based on “records examined so far”, “accounts and transactions were handled in strict adherence to due process and applicable banking norms”.The bank said “it is cooperating fully with the Municipal Corporation, government authorities and law enforcement agencies…Keeping with its governance standards and to ensure that the matter is examined independently and comprehensively, the bank has filed a formal complaint with the Panchkula Police.”The Municipal Corporation has been maintaining 16 FDs with Kotak Mahindra Bank amounting to Rs 145 crore, with a maturity value of Rs 158 crore. Out of these, 11 FDs amounting to Rs 59 crore matured on February 16, 2026. “As per the bank statement…received on March 16, the balance as on March 13 is reflected as Rs 2.17 crore only as against the expected balance of Rs 50 crore,” read the FIR. “Further, the bank has intimated that there is no live Term Deposit available and that the balance in the account as on March 18, is Rs 12 crore,” it added.Story continues below this ad“The records are totally mis-matching and there is every apprehension of financial irregularities having been committed by the bank,” read the FIR.The municipal corporation had constituted a committee to examine the matter regarding reconciliation and verification of all FDRs and bank statements maintained with the branch. A thorough and detailed verification exercise has been undertaken by the corporation as per instructions issued by the Finance Department, Haryana, vide a memo dated February 18 and March 17.“During the course of reconciliation and interaction with the Kotak Mahindra Bank authorities, significant discrepancies have been observed between the FDRs recorded in office records and the balance/records reflected by the bank. Further, additional bank accounts which were not reflected in the official records, have also come to notice during the verification process,” read the FIR.Two accounts were being operated with Kotak Mahindra Bank, Sector-11, Panchkula, the FIR stated.Story continues below this ad“However, during verification, two additional accounts have also been reported by the bank, which are not reflecting in the office record. The inconsistencies in the bank statements, along with the existence of these previously unrecorded accounts, raises serious concerns regarding the correctness and integrity of the financial records, maintained by the bank vis-a-vis the office records of Municipal Corporation,,” it said.Meanwhile, the bank, in its statement, said: “Following instructions from the Municipal Corporation, the bank initiated a detailed reconciliation of fixed deposits and linked bank accounts maintained by the Municipal Corporation. As part of this exercise, the Bank has confirmed, based on records examined so far, that all account opening processes, KYC documentation, authorised signatories and instructions received from the MC were in order, and that the accounts and transactions were handled in strict adherence to due process and applicable banking norms. A significant portion of the amounts under review has already been reconciled with the Municipal Corporation, and the reconciliation process is continuing in an orderly manner”.Reacting to the developments, former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said: “A scam of this magnitude would be absolutely impossible without official collusion, therefore, a high-level inquiry into the entire matter is imperative.” He added: “Following the Rs 590 crore IDFC scam, a similar scam has now surfaced within the Panchkula MC. Scams are also continuing unabated in the mandis (agricultural markets) under the guise of the ‘Bhavantar’ (price difference compensation) scheme for potato procurement.” Hooda emphasized that an impartial and high level investigation into all these scams is essential to put an end to the looting of public funds and to ensure that strict action is taken against the culprits.