A policeman was yesterday arrested during a sting operation after he was allegedly caught soliciting money from a member of the public who wished to avoid prosecution.
Stabroek News was reliably informed that around 10.20am on Tuesday, three uniformed ranks visited the Georgetown house of a mechanic and informed him that he was wanted at the North Ruimveldt police outpost in connection with a matter.
The man was subsequently arrested and escorted to the outpost.
While there, he alleged that the rank in custody told him that he can help him out of the matter.
For this to be done, one of his colleagues reportedly demanded a sum of $500,000.
However, the mechanic said he informed the ranks that he was unable afford the requested sum but was afraid of being locked-up due to the COVID-19 outbreak in the prison.
The man told the ranks that he only had $100,000.
According to the mechanic, before he was released from custody the ranks told him that he would need to pay the remainder of the requested sum by the end of the day.
In an effort to raise the money, the man said he asked his family and friends for help but was unable to garner the outstanding amount. Subsequently, he returned to the outpost and explained the situation to the ranks.
The man said the ranks then granted him an extension – until 10am yesterday – to get the rest of the money.
He said he and the officers exchanged telephone numbers and early yesterday morning he received several calls from one of the ranks.
The matter was reported to the police and a sting operation was set up. In the course of the transaction, one of the ranks collected a quantity of cash and he was subsequently arrested and escorted to CID headquarters.
