JEDDAH, 23 August — Police are investigating a beggar who tried to bribe an official to buy freedom from custody.
The disabled beggar of African origin was arrested by the anti-beggary squad at the Crown Prince Street while he was busy collecting alms near a traffic signal.
The beggar, who has been staying in the Kingdom illegally for seven months, requested the officials who caught him to drop him at a place outside the jurisdiction of the department. He offered SR600, his collection for the day, to an official for the favor. The cash was in varying denominations ranging from SR100 to single riyals.
The anti-beggary office turned him overt to the investigation authorities for legal action.
Saad Al-Shehrani, director of the anti-beggary department, said the man has been charged with bribing a government official on duty. Al-Shehrani said it was the first instance of a beggar attempting to bribe a government official.
The department has reported the matter to the higher authorities concerned. After receiving punishment for the crimes of both begging and bribery attempt, the man will be handed over to the expatriates department to be punished for the violation of residence regulations, the official said.
He said his inspectors arrested 588 beggars including women and children from the city in recent weeks. More than 80 percent of them were of African nationalities while two percent were Saudis.
The officials appealed to both Saudis and expatriates to cooperate with the department to weed out beggars.
