CBI arrests IPS officer in ₹3 crore bribery case linked to Puducherry fake medicine racket

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday arrested Haryana cadre IPS officer Deepak Gahlawat in connection with an alleged ₹3 crore bribery case linked to the investigation into a ₹5,000 crore fake medicine racket based in Puducherry.

According to the CBI, Gahlawat, who was serving as Regional Director in the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) at the time of the alleged offence, is accused of assuring Puducherry-based businessman N. Raja alias Valliappan, the prime accused in the counterfeit medicines case, that he could secure a favourable outcome in the CBI investigation through his purported connections within the agency.

The agency alleged that Gahlawat demanded a total bribe of ₹3 crore in exchange for influencing the investigation. The payment was allegedly routed through intermediaries, with the first instalment of ₹1 crore delivered via a hawala network.

The present arrest follows a CBI trap operation conducted in June, during which Delhi Police Crime Branch Inspector Pradeep Kumar Singh and an alleged middleman, Rajkumar alias Madhanraj, were arrested while allegedly accepting part of the bribe. The CBI had recovered approximately ₹24.7 lakh from the accused during the operation.

Investigators have alleged that Inspector Singh collected the money on behalf of the network, while Gahlawat was the senior public servant who had allegedly promised to influence the investigation.

The counterfeit medicines case, which is being investigated by the CBI, involves the alleged manufacture and distribution of fake pharmaceutical products valued at around ₹5,000 crore from Puducherry. The probe has uncovered an alleged nexus involving private individuals and public officials.

The CBI investigation into both the counterfeit medicines racket and the alleged bribery conspiracy is continuing.