CBI arrests IPS officer Deepak Gahlawat over Rs 3 crore bribe in fake drug case
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested a 2012-batch Haryana cadre IPS officer, Deepak Gahlawat, on Wednesday for allegedly demanding a Rs 3 crore bribe to settle an ongoing probe into a Rs 5,000-crore counterfeit medicine racket. Gahlawat, currently serving as a Regional Director with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), was produced before Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court.
According to the CBI, Gahlawat allegedly demanded the bribe from N Raja, a Puducherry-based businessman who was arrested in December last year. Raja was implicated in a massive underground network manufacturing and distributing spurious and adulterated medicines. When the CBI began its investigation, Raja allegedly sought backchannels to influence senior investigators.
The CBI registered an FIR on June 8 against Raja, Delhi Police Crime Branch Inspector Pradeep Kumar Singh, and an intermediary named Rajkumar. The agency claimed Gahlawat hatched a conspiracy in his office on May 14, demanding Rs 50 lakh as an initial payment from Raja to exercise personal influence over a CBI official.
In total, Gahlawat allegedly demanded Rs 3 crore, of which an advance of Rs 1 crore was delivered through hawala transactions. The CBI stated that this advance money has been recovered. Inspector Pradeep allegedly acted as a conduit to receive the funds, and Rs 25 lakh was recovered from his house. Pradeep and Rajkumar were apprehended during trap proceedings on June 8.
During the court hearing, Special Judge Sushant Changotra of the Rouse Avenue Court questioned the CBI for failing to investigate which specific CBI officers Gahlawat had attempted to influence. The judge described the investigating officer's lack of effort to identify these public servants as "totally unfathomable."
Following the court's directions, the CBI questioned Gahlawat in detail on Wednesday. The court denied the CBI's request for further custody, and Gahlawat was remanded to judicial custody. The agency has seized Gahlawat's phone, bank statements, and other digital evidence as it continues to investigate the roles of other public servants.
