DUBAI // A policeman was caught red-handed asking a source for a bribe to let him walk free, Dubai Criminal Court heard on Wednesday.
Police were given a tip-off about the officer for seeking and accepting bribes of between Dh500 and Dh1,000 from offenders, so a Bangladeshi police source was assigned to approach the defendant.
“We had him be in the same place as the defendant and his co-accused and told him to act suspiciously so that the defendant would approach him,” said a police lieutenant, 26.
He said that on December 27 last year, in Al Muraqqabat, the defendants approached the source and asked him about his papers.
Acting on the direction of police, the source admitted to defendants that he was overstaying his visa.
“They took me into the patrol car and drove for a while then said if I paid them Dh500 they would let me go. I paid them but they didn’t know it was police money I gave them. Then they told me to leave but I signalled to police and they arrested both men,” said the Bangladeshi cook, who was wearing a wire.
Police confronted the pair with the recording, but both men said the source insisted on paying them money and, when he tried to hand them money, they pushed his hand and the money away and threatened to take him into custody.
The Emirati defendant, 27, denied a charge of seeking and accepting bribes, while his Iranian partner, 39, denied a charge of aiding and abetting.
The next hearing will be on February 11.
salamir@thenational.ae
