Two high-ranking officers of the Interpol National Central Bureau (NCB) for Tajikistan have been arrested on suspicion of taking bribe, according to the press center of the Agency for State Financial Control and Combating Corruption.
Lieutenant-Colonel Alohiddin Kamolov, chief of the international criminal investigation department at the Interpol NCB for Tajikistan, and Major Jovid Vahhobov, senior major case investigator at the Interpol NCB for Tajikistan, were reportedly arrested in late August.
The anticorruption agency says Kamolov and Vahhobov demanded 15,000 somoni from citizen “A” for presenting him not as suspect but as witness to the crime. They reportedly received 5,000 somoni from him in Kamolov’s office, demanding that he bring the remaining 10,000 somoni.
They also demanded 15,000 somoni from citizen “B” for the same case.
Major Vahhobov was caught red-handed on August 30 while taking the remaining 10,000 somoni from citizen “A”.
Criminal proceedings against Kamolov and Vahhobov have been instituted under the provisions of Article 247 (4) of Tajikistan’s Penal Code – large-scale bribery.
The anticorruption agency has completed investigation into the case and it has moved to a court in Dushanbe’s Shohmansour district.
The Interpol National Central Bureau for Tajikistan is a sub-division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Staffed by nearly 20 officials, it is the essential link between Tajik national law enforcement and Interpol’s international law enforcement community, serving as the contact point for all Interpol investigations relating to Tajikistan or requiring action from Tajik police forces.
The General Assembly of Interpol voted in Mexico on 5 October, 2004 to accept Tajikistan as the organization's 182nd member state.
