Explained: How a ‘bribery’ plot emerged in Rs 5,000-crore fake drugs racket

5 min readNew DelhiJul 3, 2026 12:24 PM IST

Deepak Gahlawat allegedly demanded Rs 3 crore from Raja in the Rs 5,000-crore counterfeit medicine racket in Puducherry. (Express Photo)

On Wednesday, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested a 2012-batch Haryana cadre IPS officer, Deepak Gahlawat, for his alleged involvement in a multi-crore bribery scandal.

Gahlawat, who is currently serving as a Regional Director with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), had allegedly demanded Rs 3 crore to settle or “fix” an ongoing CBI investigation. The case he allegedly promised to fix was a Rs 5,000-crore counterfeit medicine manufacturing and distribution racket running out of Puducherry.

What is the ‘bribery’ case about?

The roots of the alleged bribery scandal trace back to last year in Puducherry.

Following coordinated raids by local police and the CB-CID, authorities uncovered underground setups manufacturing massive quantities of spurious and adulterated medicines. Huge stockpiles of raw chemical materials, packaging components, and finished counterfeit drug packages mimicking major pharmaceutical brands were seized.

N Raja, a prominent Puducherry-based businessman, was arrested in the case in December last year. The Puducherry Police later found several politicians were allegedly involved, and the investigation was transferred to the CBI.

When the CBI began turning up the heat, Raja allegedly began seeking backchannels to influence senior investigators and get “relief” in the case.

The probe agency busted this alleged secondary criminal network of intermediaries and public servants in June.

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Who are the accused?

On June 8, the CBI registered an FIR against Raja; Pradeep Kumar Singh, an inspector with the Delhi Police Crime Branch’s Southern Range; and Rajkumar who is alleged to have acted as an intermediary.

Earlier, the CBI had arrested the accused Delhi Police Inspector along with six other private persons, which led to the recovery of approximately Rs 25 lakh of trap amount and Rs 90 lakh, along with other incriminating documents, a CBI spokesperson had said.

As per the agency, this is their role:

-Inspector Pradeep allegedly acted as a conduit and assured Raja that the CBI investigation in the counterfeit drugs “scam” could be modified favourably through high-level internal contacts.

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-Gahlawat was accused of allegedly hatching a conspiracy in his office to facilitate the payments and getting in touch with other public servants who could “help” the accused persons.

-Rajkumar operated as an alleged middleman between the Delhi Police Inspector and the hawala dealers.

What are the allegations?

According to the CBI’s submissions in a Delhi court, Gahlawat held a meeting with other co-accused persons in his office on May 14. It was argued by the agency that Gahlawat allegedly demanded Rs 50 lakh as part of illegal gratification from Raja for “exercising his personal influence over a public servant posted in CBI to secure favourable relief”.

The agency claimed that a demand of Rs 3 crore was made from accused Raja, out of which Rs 1 crore advance tranche was delivered. The CBI claimed this money, which was allegedly arranged through hawala transactions, has been recovered.

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The agency claimed the payment was allegedly received through Pradeep, through a hawala operator. Rs 25 lakh was allegedly kept at Pradeep’s house. During trap proceedings on June 8, Pradeep and Rajkumar were apprehended with the money.

Where does the investigation stand right now?

The CBI had sought custody of Gahlawat. In its remand papers, it claimed that he needed to be confronted with suspicious transactions and that his custody was needed for unearthing the larger conspiracy by ascertaining the role of other co-accused persons.

A Delhi court Wednesday granted a day’s custody.

But during the hearing, the court asked the CBI why it didn’t question Gahlawat about the “role of CBI officers” in the alleged bribery case.

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Special Judge Sushant Changotra of Rouse Avenue Court said, “The answer to queries posed to the IO today makes it apparent that till date, no effort has been made in the investigation as to whether any public servant who was posted in CBI was ever approached by accused Deepak Gahlawat or if he had made any attempt to exercise his personal influence over such public servants. The IO made no endeavour to ascertain as to whether such a person existed or the identity of this public servant. The conduct of the IO in this respect and the responses given by him today are totally unfathomable.”

As per the court order dated July 2, the CBI questioned Gahlawat in detail on Wednesday regarding this particular matter.

The court denied the police request for further custody. Gahlawat is currently in judicial custody.

The CBI has seized digital evidence such as Gahlawat’s phone and other evidence such as bank account statements and is currently investigating the role of other “public servants” by confronting the accused persons with each other, The Indian Express has learnt.

© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd

Nirbhay Thakur is a Senior Correspondent with The Indian Express who primarily covers district courts in Delhi and has reported on the trials of many high-profile cases since 2023.

Professional Background

Education: Nirbhay is an economics graduate from Delhi University.

Beats: His reporting spans the trial courts, and he occasionally interviews ambassadors and has a keen interest in doing data stories.

Specializations: He has a specific interest in data stories related to courts.

Core Strength: Nirbhay is known for tracking long-running legal sagas and providing meticulous updates on high-profile criminal trials.

Recent notable articles

In 2025, he has written long form articles and two investigations. Along with breaking many court stories, he has also done various exclusive stories.

1) A long form on Surender Koli, accused in the Nithari serial killings of 2006. He was acquitted after spending 2 decades in jail. was a branded man. Deemed the “cannibal" who allegedly lured children to his employer’s house in Noida, murdered them, and “ate their flesh” – his actions cited were cited as evidence of human depravity at its worst. However, the SC acquitted him finding various lapses in the investigation. The Indian Express spoke to his lawyers and traced the 2 decades journey.

2) For decades, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has been at the forefront of the Government’s national rankings, placed at No. 2 over the past two years alone. It has also been the crucible of campus activism, its protests often spilling into national debates, its student leaders going on to become the faces and voices of political parties of all hues and thoughts. The Indian Express looked at all court cases spanning over two decades and did an investigation.

3) Investigation on the 700 Delhi riots cases. The Indian Express found that in 17 of 93 acquittals (which amounted to 85% of the decided cases) in Delhi riots cases, courts red-flag ‘fabricated’ evidence and pulled up the police.

Signature Style

Nirbhay’s writing is characterized by its procedural depth. He excels at summarizing 400-page chargesheets and complex court orders into digestible news for the general public.

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