An unidentified senior government employee is among the officials under the radar of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for allegedly being sought $An accused in the multi-crore fake medicines manufacturing case was bribed with a bribe of Rs 3 crore for “favourable relief” through his connections and influence in the agency, officials said on Wednesday.
The agency arrested Delhi Police Inspector Pradeep Singh in the bribery case while he was accepting the first batch of bribe. The senior government employee allegedly met accused N Raja alias Valliappan, along with Singh and another middleman in Delhi.
The CBI has been investigating N Raja since March on charges of criminal conspiracy, drug adulteration, adulteration and sale of adulterated drugs on the recommendation of the Puducherry administration. The Puducherry Police and Narcotics Control Department found manufacturing units making fake medicines of over a dozen brands in September and December last year. Raja is among those who allegedly manufactured and sold such drugs worth several thousand crores across the country.
The agency registered a fresh case on Monday, naming Singh, Raja, his accomplice Rajkumar and “unidentified public servants and private persons” based on information that they were facilitating the payment of “illegal ex-gratia” to secure undue relief in CBI cases, alleging their influence over investigating officers and others associated with the probe.
In the First Information Report (FIR) filed on Monday, a copy of which was reviewed by HT, the CBI alleged that Rajkumar acted as an intermediary between Raja and Singh. “On May 14, N Raja and Rajkumar met Pradeep Singh at Aerocity near IGI Airport, New Delhi. Thereafter, Pradeep Singh allegedly took them to the office of an unidentified senior government employee located in the vicinity and introduced them to him. During the meeting, the said senior government employee allegedly assured N Raja that he could get favorable relief in CBI cases through his connections and influence within the CBI,” the FIR said.
The FIR cited the CBI investigation and said the “senior public servant” had agreed to “assist” in the pending CBI cases in exchange for compensation. $3 Crores. He added that he demanded an advance payment $1.5 Crores.
Raja arranged the money before Rajkumar traveled to Vadodara, where he met Singh to discuss modalities of handing over the bribe amount to public servants in Delhi, the FIR said. “After the meeting, they both traveled together to Delhi.”
The CBI found that Raja informed his wife that the advanced amount should be delivered urgently and directed her to arrange the amount and keep it ready. Contact the remittance operator in Chennai and request their remittance services $The CBI said Rs 1 crore was paid to Delhi as part of the bribe advance payment. The money was scheduled to be handed over to Singh at Chandni Chowk on June 8, the agency added.
