Two Police Officers Arrested For Soliciting A Bribe from Three-wheeler Driver

COLOMBO (News 1st) - Two police officers were arrested in Ragama for accepting a bribe of Rs. 200,000.

The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption said that the arrest followed a complaint lodged by a three-wheeler driver in the area.

The officers had allegedly searched the driver's residence and accused him of possessing 50 grams of narcotics, threatening to file a case against him for drug trafficking unless a payment of Rs. 500,000 was made.

According to the complaint, the demanded amount was later reduced to Rs. 200,000, of which Rs. 20,000 was initially handed over.

Along with this payment, the officers had also taken the passport of the driver's wife as a form of guarantee for the balance.

Bribery Commission officials arrested the two officers while they were accepting the remaining Rs. 180,000 along with the suspect's wife's passport.

The suspects have been identified as a police constable attached to the Police Crime Division and a constable driver.