CBI has said the Delhi Police inspector accepted the first instalment of a larger payoff from the key accused in the Rs 5,000-crore counterfeit medicine racket.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested a Delhi Police inspector for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 1 crore from the prime accused in the Rs 5,000-crore counterfeit medicine racket in Puducherry on the promise of securing relief in the cases filed by the agency.
The Central agency is now probing the role of “an IPS officer serving in a post of Regional Director with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, who allegedly told N Raja alias Valliappan alias Rajasekhar – the main accused in the counterfeit medicine racket case – that he could arrange relief in the CBI cases through his connections within the agency and demanded Rs 3 crore from him.
“We have identified him and after informing his department, are likely to summon him in the coming days to join the investigation,” a source said.
On June 8, the CBI had 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 names unknown public servants and private individuals.
“Raja had arranged a payment of Rs 1 crore through hawala transaction. Pradeep Kumar Singh received the payment through hawala operator and gave it to one Prabhat, who was known to an IPS officer. Singh kept the remaining Rs 25 lakh in his house. The CBI had arrested Singh and Rajkumar with the balance amount of Rs 24.70 lakh,” the agency said.
The amount was the first instalment of a larger payoff, according to CBI.
The source said that according to the FIR, Singh, in criminal conspiracy with the other accused, had been indulging in corrupt activities by facilitating the payment of illegal gratification to secure undue relief in the CBI cases. He also claimed he had influence over investigating officers and other public servants connected with the probe.
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. The Puducherry Police later found the involvement of several politicians, and, given the gravity of the case, the investigation was transferred to CBI. The agency officially registered a fresh case against Raja in March this year.
“After the fresh registration of the FIR, Raja started looking for a source in the CBI and met Inspector Singh, who assured him that he could secure major relief in the CBI case through his contacts. He was told that his senior officer would help him and would charge a fee for doing so,” an official said.
According to the FIR, Raja and Rajkumar met Singh at Aerocity near IGI Airport on May 14. “Singh allegedly escorted both of them to the office of an unidentified senior public servant located in the vicinity and introduced them to him. During the meeting, the senior public servant allegedly assured Raja that favourable relief in the CBI cases could be secured through his connections within the agency,” the FIR alleged.
It further alleged that on May 16, Raja told his wife that the public servant had agreed to help in the pending cases in return for Rs 3 crore and had sought an advance of Rs 1.5 crore.
“Raja then allegedly began arranging the money through his contacts. Rajkumar later travelled to Vadodara and met Singh to work out the modalities for delivering the bribe money to public servants in Delhi. After the meeting, both allegedly travelled to Delhi together. Raja asked his wife to keep the funds ready, as the advance payment had to be delivered urgently, and contacted a hawala operator in Chennai to transfer Rs 1 crore to Delhi as part of the advance bribe payment,” the FIR said.
It added that the money was to be delivered to Singh in the Chandni Chowk area on June 8, but the accused were arrested by the CBI.
Investigators said they have traced how the money moved and found out what was the role of each accused in the chain. “Mobile phones and other electronic devices recovered from them are also believed to contain incriminating evidence related to the money trail,” the source said.
