New Delhi: The CBI has arrested a deputy director general of civil aviation and the senior vice president of a major corporate group in a Rs 2.5 lakh bribery case to facilitate the import of drones for another private company, officials said Sunday.
In an operation Saturday, the CBI arrested M Devula, Deputy Director General at the Airworthiness Directorate, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Bharat Mathur, who is also associated with an aerospace company involved in drone technology- Asteria Aerospace Ltd.
The CBI has booked Mathur, Devula and Asteria Aerospace Ltd under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
The major corporate group where Mathur was working is not listed as accused in the FIR and is the ultimate parent company of Asteria Aerospace, according to Asteria Aerospace’s financial statements for 2024-25.
No immediate reaction was available from Asteria Aerospace or the corporate group.
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.
According to the CBI FIR, the case was registered based on information from a reliable source, which claimed that Devula allegedly indulged in corrupt and illegal activities in connivance with various private entities in matters relating to the grant of approvals and permissions, in exchange for undue advantage.
The CBI received further information that Mathur contacted Devula March 18 to enquire about the status of certain applications about the import of drones of Asteria Aerospace Ltd, the FIR said.
Two days later, Devula allegedly asked Mathur about the number of applications involved, to which Mathur confirmed that there were three applications concerning Asteria Aerospace Ltd, it added.
It was settled among them that Rs five lakh per file has to be delivered as a bribe for processing the file for approval, the CBI FIR stated.
Mathura and Devula had a meeting April 17 here, where the latter assured completion of the work on the same day, and that a confirmation would be provided by the evening, it added.
A source also informed that M Devula has asked Bharat Mathur to deliver the illegal gratification at Essex Farms, near IIT Delhi Flyover, by the evening of 18.04.2026, the FIR mentioned.
