Police officer arrested over Sh20, 000 bribery in defilement case

A senior police officer suspected of receiving a Sh10,000 bribe to prevent the prosecution of a man being investigated for defilement has been arrested.

The officer, based at the Kombewa Police Station in Seme sub-county, was arrested by Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) detectives on Tuesday.

The EACC officials said they were waiting for consent from the Director of Public Prosecution Noordin Haji to prosecute the officer.

According to Western Kenya EACC head Ben Murei, prosecution of a second officer implicated in the bribery ring would depend on availability of witnesses.

The seized officer is said to have asked for Sh20,000 as inducement to drop investigations into defilement claims against a suspect. He was given Sh10,000 as down payment.

Unknown to the suspect, EACC officials had laid a trap leading to the arrest, as he received the money.

“A brother of the suspect came to us and told us the officer was asking for Sh20,000 to prevent the matter from proceeding to court for criminal prosecution. We gave him treated money, which we used to trap the officer,” said Mr Murei.

The officer is free on a police cash bail pending appearance in court.

The Standard is yet to establish particulars of the defilement case.