A police constable attached to the Peliyagoda Police Headquarters has been arrested by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) over a Rs. 200,000 bribe allegedly solicited to drop charges against a drug suspect.
According to CIABOC, the bribe was sought in exchange for releasing a suspect arrested on April 19 by the Peliyagoda Anti-Vice Unit for possession of crystal methamphetamine, commonly known as “Ice.” The bribe-takers had agreed to make the case go away without legal action.
CIABOC officers arrested one constable during a raid, while a second constable fled the scene. The escaping officer was apprehended on May 4 at around 9.40 a.m., the Commission said.
Both suspects were produced before the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court and remanded until May 12.
The arrest is the latest in a string of CIABOC operations targeting frontline officers across the police, military and public service. In recent days the bribery commission has arrested an Army Lance Corporal over a Rs. 130,000 land-deal kickback in Anuradhapura and a Health Ministry legal officer for soliciting a similar payment.
CIABOC has been under sustained political pressure from the opposition over its workload on senior politicians, but the bulk of its conviction-track casework continues to involve mid-rank state officials caught soliciting modest sums for routine favours.
Source: Ada Derana.
