The Puducherry Police later found that several politicians were involved, and the investigation was transferred to the CBI. The agency officially registered a fresh case against Raja in March this year.THE CBI has arrested a 2012-batch IPS officer of Haryana cadre for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 1 crore in connection with the Puducherry counterfeit medicine racket.The development comes a month after the agency arrested two men, including a Delhi Police inspector, in connection with the racket.The IPS officer, Deepak Gahlawat, allegedly told the prime accused in the case, N Raja alias Valliappan alias Rajasekhar, that he could “arrange” relief in the CBI case through his “connections” within the agency.Gahlawat allegedly demanded Rs 3 crore from Raja in the Rs 5,000-crore counterfeit medicine racket in Puducherry. He had allegedly already taken Rs 1 crore from Raja, the source said.A Delhi court on Wednesday asked the CBI why it didn’t question Gahlawat about the “role of CBI officers” in the alleged Rs 3 crore bribery case.“Are you trying to mislead the court? Of course you are. Why didn’t you ask him? He’s joined investigation four times. He has been with you for 24 hours… Is there any explanation why you didn’t ask about who (which CBI officers) had to be influenced,” Special Judge Sushant Changotra of Rouse Avenue Court asked the CBI’s IO during a hearing on Gahlawat’s remand.“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,” he said.Story continues below this adGahlawat, who was present in the courtroom, denied the charge. “From May to June, I never called any of my acquaintances in CBI. Not a single call… There is not a single penny recovered from my account,” he said. The court granted the CBI one-day custodial interrogation of Gahlawat.Gahlawat is currently serving as a Regional Director with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).According to a source, after identifying Gahlawat and informing his department, the CBI summoned him and questioned him multiple times. “We have now arrested him and are still probing the role of his internal contacts in the Central agency,” the source said.“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 the cases being investigated by CBI in relation to the sale of counterfeit drugs in Puducherry,” a spokesperson said in a statement.Story continues below this ad“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 seized during the investigation,” the spokesperson said.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 alias Madhanraj, who is alleged to have acted as an intermediary. The FIR also named unknown public servants and private individuals.“Raja had arranged a payment of Rs 1 crore through a hawala transaction. The arrested inspector received the payment through a hawala operator and gave it to one Prabhat, who was an acquaintance of an IPS officer. Singh kept the remaining Rs 25 lakh in his house and CBI arrested Singh and Rajkumar with the balance amount of Rs 24.70 lakh,” CBI said.The counterfeit and spurious medicines manufacturing operation was uncovered following raids by the police and the CB-CID in Puducherry last year, during which massive stocks of fake drugs and raw materials were seized. Raja was arrested in December.Story continues below this adThe Puducherry Police later found that several politicians were involved, and the investigation was transferred to the CBI. The agency officially registered a fresh case against Raja in March this year.Mahender Singh Manral is an Assistant Editor with the national bureau of The Indian Express. He is known for his impactful and breaking stories. He covers the Ministry of Home Affairs, Investigative Agencies, National Investigative Agency, Central Bureau of Investigation, Law Enforcement Agencies, Paramilitary Forces, and internal security. Prior to this, Manral had extensively reported on city-based crime stories along with that he also covered the anti-corruption branch of the Delhi government for a decade. He is known for his knack for News and a detailed understanding of stories. He also worked with Mail Today as a senior correspondent for eleven months. He has also worked with The Pioneer for two years where he was exclusively covering crime beat. During his initial days of the career he also worked with The Statesman newspaper in the national capital, where he was entrusted with beats like crime, education, and the Delhi Jal Board. A graduate in Mass Communication, Manral is always in search of stories that impact lives. ... Read MoreNirbhay 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. X (Twitter): @Nirbhaya99 ... Read More