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NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday arrested an IPS officer in connection with an alleged Rs 3 crore bribery case linked to its probe into a fake drug manufacturing racket in Puducherry.Deepak Gahlawat, a 2012-batch Haryana-cadre IPS officer, was serving as the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security’s (BCAS) regional director at the time of the alleged offence.“During investigation, it was disclosed that the IPS officer had demanded illegal gratification claiming that he could exercise his personal influence and obtain relief for private persons in cases being investigated by CBI in relation to scale of counterfeit drugs in Puducherry,” a CBI statement read.The arrest follows an FIR registered by the agency on June 8 against Delhi Police Crime Branch Inspector Pradeep Singh, alleged middleman Rajkumar, and N Raja, a Puducherry-based businessman.Last month, the agency arrested Singh, Rajkumar, and five others in a trap operation, recovering Rs 25 lakh as trap money, another Rs 90 lakh, and incriminating documents.According to officials, Raja, the businessman, was under CBI investigation in a case registered in connection with the alleged fake drug manufacturing racket. He then approached Singh, who assured him that he could “influence the probe.”Singh then allegedly arranged a meeting between Raja and Gahlawat. During the meeting, Gahlawat demanded Rs 3 crore, including an upfront payment of Rs 1.5 crore, in exchange for a “favourable investigation.”The businessman arranged Rs 1 crore through a hawala transaction, which was handed over to Singh. Of this, Rs 50 lakh was passed on to another middleman, Prabhat, who was known to the accused public servant.“Accused Pradeep Kumar Singh kept the remaining Rs 25 lakh in his office. Thereafter, on June 8, accused Rajkumar and Pradeep Kumar Singh were apprehended,” an official said.(With PTI inputs)
