Lieutenant colonel arrested in Tashkent for accepting $18,000 bribe

A senior official of the Tashkent city internal affairs system has been arrested for accepting a bribe. The State Security Service reported that U.S., head of the department for coordination of internal affairs bodies in the Mirabad district of the Main Department of Internal Affairs, was detained in connection with the case.

The official, who holds the military rank of lieutenant colonel, is alleged to have promised to change the preventive measure applied to a suspect facing charges under Article 273 of the Criminal Code — relating to drug offenses — by the Investigation Department of the Yakkasaroy District Internal Affairs Bureau. In exchange, U.S. received $18,000 from a relative of the accused, offering to have the preventive measure changed from detention to bail.

However, after failing to deliver on this promise, he was caught red-handed returning part of the bribe money.

A criminal case has now been initiated against U.S. under Articles 168 (fraud) and 211 (bribery) of the Criminal Code. He has been placed in pre-trial detention, and investigative proceedings are currently ongoing.

It should be recalled that a similar bribery case was reported earlier involving the deputy governor of the Andijan region, along with the heads of the Statistics and Pension departments in the Tashkent region.