Three cops nabbed for 'extortion'

Three policemen stationed in Harare's Budiriro 5B suburb were last week arrested for allegedly extorting US$150 from a couple they allegedly caught being intimate in a car at odd hours.

Constables Ben Mawana (33), Stanford Madamombe (39) and Fanuel Murehwa (33), all pleaded not guilty when they appeared before Harare magistrate Mr Arnold Maburo.

The trio was remanded out of custody to tomorrow.

It is the State's case that sometime in April, the policemen allegedly caught the couple being intimate by a roadside in Budiriro 5.

They then, it is alleged, arrested the "lovebirds" and took them to Budiriro Police Base.

It is understood the three asked the couple to pay a US$50 fine. They then allegedly asked the man to pay US$300 for driving without a licence.

The 21-year-old man then telephoned his father to bring US$100 to the police base.

In the meantime, the policemen allegedly escorted the man's girlfriend to her home where she allegedly gave them US$50. The couple was only released after the man's father allegedly paid the officers the US$100.

The man later reported the matter to the Anti-Corruption Commission, leading to the trio's arrest.