LUSAKA COP TURNS DOWN K12,000 BRIBE
An alert Lusaka based Police officer of Zambia Police Service Headquarters has turned down a K12,000 bribe to cover up a theft of solar panels and a submersible pump.
The Cop identified as Inspector Bornwell Hatontola on Tuesday, 24th May 2022 at around 08:36 hours, received a phone call from a Mr. Honest Mweemba asking if his Motor Vehicle was available for hire on that particular day.
Mr Mweemba asked the Cop, who also does a side ‘hustle’ as a driver, to ferry some items from Mumbwa to Lusaka’s Makeni area.
Around 19:00hrs, inspector Hatontola started off from Lusaka to Mumbwa District and met the alleged suspect who pulled two small black bags from the right side of the road in the bush and put them in Hatontola’s Toyota Regius vehicle.
“He also pulled a 25 kgs white sack which contained a big submersible pump, a black roll of cable which he suspected was a power cable for the submersible pump and a roll of Nylon rope,” the Cop narrated.
Hatontola was then asked to drive about 1.5 Kms in the west direction and was ordered to make a right turn in the bush to pack the solar panels from where they were hidden.
It was at this point that Hatontola sensed something fishy and refused to drive the vehicle in the bush around that time on account that it was not only highly risky but late.
It was at this point that out of desperation, the alleged suspect offered to give the Cop a K12,000 after being queried on where he got the items, to which he responded that he got them on some farm on the south side of the road and that there was nothing to worry about because some farm workers knew what was going on.
Upon realising that he could be dealing with an active theft case, Inspector Hatontola then drove for a few kilometres, parked the car by the road side and immediately called a Chisamba based Police Officer, constable Jimmy Sikazwe and further told him to quickly alert Kapyanga Police check point or Nangoma police post to intercept the motor vehicle which he was driving because he highly suspected that the solar panels he was about to deliver to Lusaka were stolen goods.
Shortly after speaking to constable Sikazwe, Inspector Hatontola then called sergeant Silwenga of Nangoma Police Post, made a similar request and gave him the number plate of the car he was driving.
After the alert and the alleged stolen goods were packed in his vehicle, Hatontola then sarted off driving back to Lusaka and reached Nangoma area at exactly 22:49 Hours only to be stopped by a car which blocked his lane.
Three male police officers, one of them armed with an AK47 assault came out of the car and ordered Inspector Hatontola to park the vehicle at the police post.
The officers then led all of the three occupants into the inquiries office and then returned to search the vehicle to check what was inside only to find the above mentioned goods.
It was at this point that the officers then ordered Inspector Hatontola to go to the next office for questioning while the other two men were put in police cells.
After the interrogations, the officers offloaded all items from the vehicle and put them in the Inquiries Office, thanked the Inspector for giving them a tip-off of the crime which was in progress and set him free to drive back to Lusaka.
Credit: Nkani