Policeman jailed for taking phone credit as bribe

Dubai: A policeman has been jailed for three months for taking Dh600 in phone credit as bribe from a worker to apprehend three illegal residents, who wished to be deported.

The Dubai Court of First Instance convicted the policeman of taking three payments in the form of phone credit as bribe from the 27-year-old Bangladeshi worker, to have the latter’s friends arrested and deported in January.

The Bangladeshi was also jailed for three months.

Following an informant’s tip off that the policeman had been accepting kickbacks to apprehend illegal residents wishing to be deported, police cooperated with the Bangladeshi worker to apprehend the suspected policeman in a sting operation.

The policeman was stationed at the Dubai Global Village and aiding the authorities in apprehending individuals involved in flouting UAE residency laws, arresting them and forwarding them for trial.

The Bangladeshi cooperated with Dubai Police and was bugged with wires so that conversations [between him and the policeman] could be recorded to be used as future evidence against the policeman.

Records said the policeman and the worker were arrested during the sting operation, during which it was documented that the policeman had accepted 3 payments of Dh200 in the form of phone credits to have three illegal workers apprehended and deported.

The three illegal residents are the worker’s friends, said records.

According to the primary ruling, the defendants [policeman and worker] were fined Dh5,000 each.

The Bangladeshi will be deported after serving his punishment.

The convicted policeman was commissioned to apprehend illegal residents and hand them over to the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs in Dubai. He requested Dh200 in bribe per person [absconders, illegal workers and over-stayers] from the Bangladeshi and apprehended those individuals and had them deported.

The defendants had pleaded not guilty in court.

A police lieutenant testified that an informant alerted them that the defendant had been taking bribes from the workers.

“We apprehended the Bangladeshi first. He admitted that he had been paying kickbacks [phone credits] to the other suspect to have his friends deported. We convinced the latter to cooperate with Dubai Police and have the suspected policeman apprehended in a sting operation. The Bangladeshi had paid the phone credit in the form of an SMS to the other defendant,” the lieutenant said.

The primary ruling remains subject to appeal within 13 days.