An Inspector of Police and a police constable attached to the Sainthamaruthu Police Station have been remanded until August 28 over an alleged Rs. 20,000 bribe, Ada Derana reported.
The two officers were produced before the Kalmunai Magistrate’s Court following their arrest by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC). Hiru News also reported the remand order.
A fuller account of the allegation
Ada Derana’s report sets out the allegation in more detail than was available when the arrests were made on August 17.
The officers are alleged to have solicited and accepted the money in exchange for taking lenient legal action against a suspect held over possession of “ice”, or crystal methamphetamine. According to Ada Derana, the officers are accused of agreeing not to act on the full quantity of ice allegedly found in the suspect’s possession, and instead to report only 70 milligrams of heroin to court so that a lesser penalty would apply.
The suspect was also allegedly to be allowed to continue operating without interference in future.
Earlier reporting on the arrests had described the case as one involving 70 milligrams of heroin and an offer to proceed by charge sheet rather than by a B report — the document through which police place investigation findings before a magistrate. Ada Derana’s latest account indicates the underlying seizure was of ice, with the heroin figure being what investigators allege was to be reported.
Where the arrests took place
The Inspector was arrested on August 17 inside the Periyanilavanai Police Station, Ada Derana reported. The constable was arrested by CIABOC officers in front of Zahira College, Kudi 9, in Kalmunai.
Both officers had been assigned to the Sainthamaruthu station shortly before the alleged offence. The allegations have not been tested in court.
