Cop alleged to have taken bribe of onions

SEREMBAN: “No money, no problem. We can take onions instead.”

Even with the recent rise in the price of onions, it was not what a lorry attendant expected to hear from a policeman.

He was out delivering sacks of onions last Sunday, when a policeman allegedly demanded a kickback from him for purportedly breaching the conditional movement control order (CMCO) in Senawang.

The 26-year-old attendant left Shah Alam in a lorry loaded with onions when he was flagged down at a police checkpoint at the Senawang toll plaza of the North-South Expressway at about 2pm.

It is learnt that when the attendant could not produce the necessary CMCO interstate travel documents, a policeman told him he could be arrested and fined.

The policeman allegedly offered to let him off the hook for RM200. Sources said when the attendant told him that he had no money, the policeman allegedly demanded 10 sacks of onions, which were to be distributed to each cop at the checkpoint.

It is believed that the attendant explained that he had lost his job in March due to the pandemic and was forced to take up odd-jobs to make ends meet.

He told the policeman that 10 bags of onions, at RM50 each, would cause him to lose half his salary for the month.

On hearing this, the policeman relented and allegedly told the attendant to hand over just two sacks of onions.

Feeling victimised, the attendant lodged a report upon returning to Shah Alam on Monday.

Seremban police chief ACP Mohd Said Ibrahim said yesterday a probe was initiated soon after the report was lodged and a policeman was arrested in Senawang on Monday.

“The complainant was held as he could not produce his employer’s letter to enable him to travel during the CMCO,” Mohd Said said.

“Payment was demanded of him which was substituted with the onions he was carrying in the lorry.

“We will carry out a thorough investigation and will take appropriate action,” he added.