Lanka News Web has learnt of an unpleasant incident experienced by a Saudi police officer and his family on the 6th night when they were stopped at a snap check point put up by the Bambalapitiya Police in front of the Majestic City building.
The incident that had taken place is as follows:
A police officer attached to the Saudi Arabian police together with his wife and sister in-law have been returning to the Cinnamon Lakeside Hotel where they were staying in a three wheeler around midnight on the 6th after having dinner at the Mount Lavinia Hotel. The three-wheeler had been stopped at the snap checkpoint near the Majestic City and the police had requested for identification papers of the passengers. They had given photocopies of their passports to the police, who had declined to accept the photocopies saying they wanted to see the original passports.
The passengers had said their original passports were in their hotel rooms and since everyone was in
the three-wheeler at the time there was no way of getting the passports from the hotel. The Saudi police officer and his family had given their Saudi national IDs to the policemen at the checkpoint and had asked them to verify their identities with the Saudi Embassy in Colombo if there were any doubts.
The police men at the checkpoint had been angered by the response and said, “You don’t try to fool us. Aren’t’ you having fun with two prostitutes? We need to conduct a body search on these two.” The two Muslim women have been disturbed by the comment and started to cry saying they could not agree to such a search according to the religion.
Seeing the desperate plight of his wife and her sister, the Saudi police officer had asked the policemen at the checkpoint to trust him as he too was an officer of the police and had tried to give his Saudi Police ID card. When he had taken out his wallet to show his police ID card, the policemen at the checkpoint had seen several US$ 100 notes. The policemen at the checkpoint had then called the Saudi police officer to aside and said, “We don’t care if you are in the police.
You have committed an offense. You cannot travel around in Sri Lanka at night with two women who do not have ID cards. We can take you people into custody under suspicion and present you’ll before courts. Take out your purse.” A dark, short and aft policeman at the checkpoint had grabbed the Saudi policeman’s wallet.
After taking three US$ 100 notes from the wallet, the policeman had give back the wallet to the Saudi policeman saying, “Now it’s OK, you people can go. But if you repeat this incident anywhere we will arrest you people within an hour.”
Finally, the Saudi police officer had returned to the Cinnamon Lakeside Hotel with his wife and her sister well past midnight after losing US$ 300 (Rs. 112x300 = Rs. 33,600). The Saudis, who were planning on staying in Colombo for another week had cancelled their trip and returned to Saudi Arabia on the 7th saying they would never return to Sri Lanka, sources from Cinnamon Lakeside said.
The person who gave us the information said that it also needs to be considered how the Saudi police officer would treat the large number of Sri Lankan in Saudi following his unpleasant experience during his holiday in Sri Lanka.
The incident that had taken place is as follows:
A police officer attached to the Saudi Arabian police together with his wife and sister in-law have been returning to the Cinnamon Lakeside Hotel where they were staying in a three wheeler around midnight on the 6th after having dinner at the Mount Lavinia Hotel. The three-wheeler had been stopped at the snap checkpoint near the Majestic City and the police had requested for identification papers of the passengers. They had given photocopies of their passports to the police, who had declined to accept the photocopies saying they wanted to see the original passports.
The passengers had said their original passports were in their hotel rooms and since everyone was in
the three-wheeler at the time there was no way of getting the passports from the hotel. The Saudi police officer and his family had given their Saudi national IDs to the policemen at the checkpoint and had asked them to verify their identities with the Saudi Embassy in Colombo if there were any doubts.
The police men at the checkpoint had been angered by the response and said, “You don’t try to fool us. Aren’t’ you having fun with two prostitutes? We need to conduct a body search on these two.” The two Muslim women have been disturbed by the comment and started to cry saying they could not agree to such a search according to the religion.
Seeing the desperate plight of his wife and her sister, the Saudi police officer had asked the policemen at the checkpoint to trust him as he too was an officer of the police and had tried to give his Saudi Police ID card. When he had taken out his wallet to show his police ID card, the policemen at the checkpoint had seen several US$ 100 notes. The policemen at the checkpoint had then called the Saudi police officer to aside and said, “We don’t care if you are in the police.
You have committed an offense. You cannot travel around in Sri Lanka at night with two women who do not have ID cards. We can take you people into custody under suspicion and present you’ll before courts. Take out your purse.” A dark, short and aft policeman at the checkpoint had grabbed the Saudi policeman’s wallet.
After taking three US$ 100 notes from the wallet, the policeman had give back the wallet to the Saudi policeman saying, “Now it’s OK, you people can go. But if you repeat this incident anywhere we will arrest you people within an hour.”
Finally, the Saudi police officer had returned to the Cinnamon Lakeside Hotel with his wife and her sister well past midnight after losing US$ 300 (Rs. 112x300 = Rs. 33,600). The Saudis, who were planning on staying in Colombo for another week had cancelled their trip and returned to Saudi Arabia on the 7th saying they would never return to Sri Lanka, sources from Cinnamon Lakeside said.
The person who gave us the information said that it also needs to be considered how the Saudi police officer would treat the large number of Sri Lankan in Saudi following his unpleasant experience during his holiday in Sri Lanka.
