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15 police officers arrested over alleged illegal levies in Riau
Fifteen police personnel have been caught red-handed accepting pungli (illegal levies) during operations conducted by the Riau Police in the last two months.
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Corruption-prone – An officer passes through a mobile driver's license service facility provided by the Riau Police’s traffic division on Jl.HR Soebrantas, Pekanbaru, Riau, on Oct.18. (JP/Rizal Harahap)
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ifteen police personnel have been caught red-handed accepting pungli (illegal levies) during operations conducted by the Riau Police in the last two months. They could be fired if proven guilty, the police said.
Riau Police spokesperson Adj.Sr.Comr.Aryo Tejo said personnel from the police's Internal Affairs Division (Propam) had caught the 15 police officers receiving the illegal fees through various methods.
“They were involved in nine cases that Propam is currently handling,” he said on Tuesday.
Four of the 15 personnel are from the Pekanbaru Police’s traffic unit (Satlantas), followed by four from the Riau Police’s traffic division (Ditlantas), two Satlantas members from the Siak Police, two Sabhara personnel from the Rumbai Pekanbaru Police, two Sabhara officers of the Bengkalis Police and one Sabhara member from the Pelalawan Police.
Aryo said 10 out of the 15 police personnel were arrested for allegedly taking illegal fees from drivers. “They asked drivers of trucks passing the trans-Sumatra highway to pay between Rp 2,000 [15.36 US cents] and Rp 5,000 per person. Some of them were also found to have asked money from motorists netted during traffic operations,” he said.
Two other personnel were arrested for acting as driver’s license middleman in Pekanbaru.
Two Sabhara members in Pelalawan and Siak were arrested for allegedly being involved in safeguarding cockfight gambling and vessels smuggling shallots from Malaysia.
Another officer was a security and public order agency member in Bukit Batu district, Bengkalis. “He was suspected to have protected illegal logging activities in the Giam Siak Kecil-Bukit Batu biosphere reserve,” said Aryo. (ebf)
