A TRAFFIC rank was relieved of his duties after a sting operation by a senior Home Affairs Ministry official caught him accepting a bribe from a mini-bus driver.
Reports indicate that a mini-bus driver was pulled over last Wednesday in the vicinity of Stabroek Market by a traffic rank attached to the Brickdam Police Station.
The traffic rank upon inspection of the documents of the mini-bus driver found that the document pertaining to fitness of the vehicle was missing.

The mini-bus driver explained that the missing document was at his home and the traffic rank decided to keep his insurance and licence and sent him home to retrieve the document.
The driver was also instructed to return “with nothing less than $5,000.”

The rank’s demand was reported to Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn and a sting operation was launched by a senior ministry official who photographed the serial numbers of the money and recorded on video, the driver handing over the money to the traffic rank.
The traffic rank was soon after confronted by law-enforcement officials and escorted to the Brickdam Police Station where he was interrogated by senior police officers but could not provide sensible answers to their questions.

As a result, he was removed from the Traffic Department.
This incident from all indications is a warning that the Home Affairs Ministry has adopted a zero-tolerance approach to police harassment, corruption and towards rogue cops in the Guyana Police Force.