Policeman caught red-handed taking Dh3,000 bribe from driver

A Dubai policeman allegedly sought Dh3,000 bribe from a driver against not issuing him a traffic fine after he broke the law, the Dubai Criminal Court heard.

At around 6.30pm on June 22, RW, 32, a British pilot, was driving in Al Barsha when a policeman spotted him making a U-turn at intersection where it’s prohibited.

“A police patrol followed me and asked me to stop. A policeman asked me if I knew why I was stopped. I answered him positively and apologised for breaking the rule and making a U-turn where it was not permitted. He told me that I had committed a very serious traffic offence and its fine ranged between Dh2,500 to Dh3,000 in addition to the impounding of my car for 30 days. I talked to the senior officer who was sitting in the police patrol vehicle and asked him about the vehicle impounding procedures as the policeman said that he would impound the car on the spot.

“When I went back to my car, the policeman asked me to produce the car’s documents and gave me his mobile number; he asked me to pay him Dh2,500 to Dh3,000 for not impounding the car. Before leaving, he stressed that I should meet him at the same place once he’s finished his shift, to hand him over the amount,” the pilot testified.

The pilot, who is a new resident here, initially believed that policemen might be followed to collect fines.

“I checked with some colleagues and they told me that in the UAE, policemen have no authority to collect fines. I was told that the fine for violating U-turn law is about Dh450 and there is no law of impounding the car as the policeman claimed,” he told investigators.

The pilot reported the incident to the police, who arrested the accused police official red handed.

The policeman called the pilot 10 times until the latter answered after necessary arrangements were taken to trap the accused.

Police arrested cop, AO, 24, red handed with the police notes in his hand.

The policeman denied the accusation and claimed that the amount he received from the driver was against selling him his car.

The pilot recorded the conversation with the accused upon the police official’s request where the British national assured during the conversation that he is paying the money against not issuing traffic fine, car impoundment and black points.

The court will reconvene on October 16.

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.