OIC of Police Field Force HQ remanded over bribery charge

The officer-in-charge (OIC) of the Police Field Force Headquarters in Bambalapitiya, who was arrested on bribery charges, has been remanded until January 02.

The arrested suspect, a Chief Inspector, was produced before Colombo Chief Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne today (20).

The Bribery Commission informed the court that the police officer in question had requested for a bribe of Rs 150,000 from an Inspector of Police (IP), who had been interdicted, to give the recommendations necessary for the latter’s reinstatement in service.

He had later agreed to reduce that amount to Rs 100,000 and was arrested while accepting an initial payment of Rs 50,000 from the bribe, the commission said.
The Bribery Commission requested the court to place the suspect in remand custody as investigations into the incident are still ongoing.

However, the attorney appearing on behalf of the accused rejected the accusations and claimed that the money in question was accepted by his client as the repayment of part of a loan the Inspector had obtained from his client.

The attorney alleged that the Inspector who had filed the complaint had falsely identified the payment as a bribe in order to get the defendant arrested.

The defence attorney further stated the Inspector making the accusations is an individual who has been charged with cheating gemstones worth Rs 2.5 million as well as abducting a person.

However, after considering the facts presented before the court, the Magistrate ordered to place the accused in remand custody until January 02.

The court also ordered the Bribery Commission to submit a report on that date regarding the progress of the investigations into the incident.