Delhi court sends IPS officer Deepak Gahlawat to 14-day judicial custody in bribery case

New Delhi, July 2 (IANS) A Delhi court on Thursday sent 2012-batch Haryana cadre IPS officer Deepak Gahlawat to 14 days’ judicial custody in connection with an alleged bribery case after rejecting the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) plea seeking an extension of his custodial interrogation.

The order was passed by the Rouse Avenue Court after Gahlawat was produced on the completion of his one-day CBI custody.

The CBI had sought a further four days of custodial interrogation of the IPS officer. However, the court declined the request and remanded him to judicial custody for 14 days.

Gahlawat, currently posted on Central deputation with the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) in Delhi, was arrested by the CBI on Wednesday in connection with the alleged bribery case.

Earlier, the court had granted the probe agency only one day’s custodial interrogation, though the CBI had sought five days’ custody.

According to the CBI, the Central agency had registered a case on June 8 against a Delhi Police Inspector and two private individuals.

During the investigation, it allegedly came to light that Gahlawat had demanded illegal gratification, claiming that he could use his personal influence to secure relief for certain private individuals in cases being investigated by the CBI relating to the sale of counterfeit drugs in Puducherry.

Opposing the CBI’s earlier plea for custodial interrogation, counsel for Gahlawat had argued that the IPS officer had joined the investigation on four occasions and cooperated with the probe throughout. The defence had also submitted that the Rs 50,000 allegedly credited to his bank account was merely an advance received towards the sale of his old car, contending that no public servant accepting a bribe would receive the money in his personal bank account.

Earlier in the investigation, the CBI had arrested Delhi Police Inspector Pradeep Singh along with six private individuals.

The probe agency had recovered approximately Rs 25 lakh as trap money and seized around Rs 90 lakh in cash, besides several incriminating documents.

The CBI had also conducted searches at multiple premises linked to Gahlawat, during which investigators seized several digital devices, hard disks and documents believed to be relevant to the case. The investigation is continuing.

–IANS

pds/uk