CBI arrests DGCA, Reliance officials in drone import bribery case

The CBI has arrested DGCA official Mudavath Devula and Reliance Industries’ top official Bharat Mathur in a Rs 2.5 lakh bribery case to facilitate the import of drones for another private company, officials said Sunday. Devula is a Deputy Director General at the Airworthiness Directorate, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Headquarters, New Delhi and Mathur is handling Regulatory and Corporate Affairs of Reliance Industries.

Both was arrested by CBI on Saturday, red-handed with a bribe amount. The accused DGCA public servant allegedly demanded undue advantage from private persons in lieu of issuing approvals and permissions for applications pending with DGCA for a private aerospace company, a CBI spokesperson said in a statement. “The CBI arrested Deputy Director General at the Airworthiness Directorate, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Headquarters, New Delhi, along with a representative of a private company in a bribery case of Rs 2.5 lakh resulting in the seizure of the entire amount,” it said.

The CBI conducted searches at the premises of the accused public servant and other private persons across four locations in Delhi, resulting in the seizure of cash worth Rs 37 lakh along with gold and silver coins and multiple digital devices, the statement added.