The officer-in-charge (OIC) of the Excise Department’s special investigations unit has been arrested by the bribery commission for allegedly soliciting a bribe of Rs 50,000.
The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) stated that Excise Special Detection Chief Rosman Fernando had demanded a sum of Rs 500,000 from an illicit liquor brewer in Kalutara in order to refrain from taking legal action against him.
The individual had already paid Rs 450,000 to the excise officer and was handing over the remaining Rs 50,000 to him at the canteen of a private telecommunications company in W.A.D. Ramanayeka Mawatha, Colombo this afternoon when the arrest was made.
Incidentally it was the residence of Rosman Fernando which was shot at by gunmen in Kottawa on March 6, the same day shots were fired at the residence of the Excise Commissioner General D.G.M.V. Hapuarachchi.
