Will CBI expose IPS officers- Inspectors nexus in Delhi police?

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which earned the title of a “caged parrot” from the Supreme Court, has also been reprimanded by the Court, which observed that the agency must move beyond this old image of being a parrot confined in a cage and prove its impartiality. Despite this, the CBI still does not appear to function in an independent, impartial, and transparent manner. It is not enough to be impartial; impartiality must also be visible. These days, the CBI is not even officially informing the media about the arrest of corrupt officers of the Delhi Police. By doing so, the CBI appears to be trying to conceal the stains and sins of corrupt officers.
When IPS officers are found involved in alleged corruption cases, it seems as if the CBI suddenly loses its voice. Instead of honestly discharging its duty, the CBI appears to be maintaining a brotherhood relationship of “IPS protecting IPS.” The silence of the CBI raises serious questions about its role. In the past months, four cases involving the arrest of corrupt Delhi Police officers have come to light. In the cases of Inspector Pradeep Singh and Inspector Subhash Yadav, IPS officers are also said to be involved. The CBI did not officially inform the media about the arrests in any of these four cases. The biggest question is this: if the CBI is unwilling to officially disclose even the arrests of inspectors, one can imagine how it will investigate IPS officers. The CBI should understand that greater publicity of the arrest of corrupt officers would strengthen public confidence in the agency. Only then will more people gather the courage to expose corrupt officials. 
On June 8, the CBI arrested Delhi Police Crime Branch Inspector Pradeep Singh on charges of accepting a bribe of Rs1 crore. In its FIR, the CBI provided complete details of Inspector Pradeep, CBI case accused N. Raja, and his associate Rajkumar. On May 14, 2026, Inspector Pradeep allegedly took both men to the office of his senior officer. That senior officer assured N. Raja that he would be protected in the CBI case and demanded Rs3 crore as a bribe, including Rs1.5 crore in advance. Yet, despite this, the CBI did not mention the officer’s name in the FIR and instead referred to him merely as an “unknown senior government officer.” However, the agency later arrested the said IPS officer Deepak Gahlawat on July 1. The CBI had such concrete information that money was being arranged through hawala channels and would be delivered to Inspector Pradeep in Delhi on June 8. Acting on this information, the CBI arrested Inspector Pradeep and middleman Rajkumar.
Can anyone believe that the country’s premier investigative agency did not know the name of the IPS officer backing the inspector before registering the FIR? This gives the impression that the CBI deliberately omitted his name. If the CBI’s intentions are clear and transparent, it should explain why the IPS officer’s name was not included in the FIR and why Inspector Pradeep’s arrest was not officially publicized. 
On April 21, 2026, the CBI arrested Head Constable Ajay, posted in the Anti-Narcotics Cell of Dwarka District, while allegedly accepting a bribe of R2 lakh. More than Rs48 lakh in cash was recovered from the cell’s office. The CBI did publicize the arrest of the head constable. However, at that time, the CBI did not arrest Inspector Subhash Yadav, who headed the unit. There is widespread discussion within police circles that Inspector Subhash was saved from arrest by his IPS godfather. This raised serious questions about the CBI’s role. When the matter gained momentum, the CBI arrested Inspector Subhash Yadav on May 11.
Reports suggest that Inspector Subhash had assets and financial dealings worth nearly Rs100 crore and maintained close links with several IPS officers. Yet the CBI did not officially publicize his arrest either. The CBI should explain why Inspector Subhash Yadav was not arrested on April 21 and whether any IPS officer is involved in the case.
On June 10, the CBI registered a case against ASI Shiv Prakash and Sub-Inspector Arvind Singh, posted at Hari Nagar Cyber Police Station in West Delhi, for allegedly demanding a bribe of ₹20 lakh from a Rajasthan resident by threatening him with arrest. The CBI did not disclose how many police personnel were arrested in this case. On June 5, the CBI caught Sub-Inspector Sachin and Head Constable Praveen Kutel of Amar Colony Police Station red-handed while accepting a bribe. In this case too, the CBI did not officially inform the media about the arrests.
On the other hand, on June 6, the CBI officially announced the arrest of ASI Hitesh Kumar of Sector 39 Police Station in Chandigarh while accepting a bribe of Rs40,000. 
This reveals the discriminatory treatment being adopted by the CBI toward different police personnel. Inspector Subhash Yadav is also said to have been very close to  M. Harshvardhan, the then DCP of Dwarka District, who is now serving in the CBI. This is the same DCP who, in July 2024, had arrested a car driver in the Rajendra Nagar coaching centre flooding case, where several students died after rainwater entered the basement. The driver was accused of causing the water to enter the coaching centre merely by driving his car. The court strongly criticized the police for this action. The incident exposed Harshvardhan’s investigative incompetence. The appointment of such an IPS officer to the CBI raises questions about the agency’s selection process as well.
It is said that Inspector Subhash likely had more than one godfather. IPS officer Shankar Chaudhary has already been exposed. Former DCP Santosh Meena had first posted Subhash Yadav in the Nigerian-dominated Mohan Garden area, which is known as a hub for drug traffickers and a major source of illegal police earnings. The lure of collections from this area is what reportedly drew IPS officer Shankar Chaudhary back from Mizoram.
Either IPS officers were colluding with Inspector Subhash, or they were so incompetent, naïve, or foolish that they remained unaware for years while their subordinate allegedly extorted money from drug traffickers. In either case, strict action must be taken against them.  under the tenure of IPS officers Santosh Meena, Shankar Chaudhary, M. Harshvardhan, and Ankit Kumar Singh, all of whom served as DCPs in Dwarka District, that Inspector Subhash flourished. The current DCP, Kushal Pal Singh, was posted to the district in March this year.
After this matter surfaced, Special Commissioner of Police (Law & Order, Zone-2) Madhup Tiwari was transferred to Arunachal Pradesh with immediate effect on May 2. He was not assigned any post there. This strengthened the doubt that he was removed because of his connection to the Inspector Subhash scandal. If that was indeed the reason, why was no strict action taken against him? A few years ago, Madhup Tiwari was on deputation with the CBI, but the agency sent him back to his parent cadre even before the completion of his tenure. Now the time has come , the CBI should expose those IPS officers, who were reportedly backing Inspector Subhash Yadav for so many years.
The Delhi Police registered an FIR against former Dwarka DCP Shankar Chaudhary on February 5, 2026. He faces sensational allegations of illegally detaining a foreign national involved in the narcotics trade and extorting Rs35 lakh from him. Yet Shankar Chaudhary has not been arrested so far. The Home Minister should have ensured his immediate arrest in such a strong case. Sending such gangster-like IPS officers to jail would create a deterrent effect among other alleged corrupt IPS officers as well. It will send a  loud and clear message to all.If the Home Minister seriously wants to get rid of corruption from the police force  and bring crime under control, he must launch a decisive strike against the IPS–Inspector nexus. IPS officers who colluded with inspectors should be sent to jail without delay.

(Freelance Journalist)