New Delhi, Aug. 28 -- The paperwork said the drones had been delivered. The units that were supposed to fly them knew otherwise, and that is usually how these cases begin.

former territorial defence brigade commander and his accomplice have been exposed," the statement said.

The mechanism prosecutors describe is unremarkable, which is the worrying part. Contracts for FPV drones were signed during 2025 and budget funds were released against them. Delivery was then faked rather than performed. To move the money the commander is said to have recruited civilians who ran it through companies they controlled and converted it into cash.

That is a procurement fraud of a very ordinary kind, and its ordinariness is what makes it legible. There i...