DOHA: The law enforcement agencies have taken into custody a number of security personnel of a prominent shopping mall here after it was reported that they were detaining and extorting money from shoplifters as bribe for not turning them over to the police.
The Ministry of Interior said in a statement yesterday that the modus operandi of those arrested was that they would identify a shoplifter and catch him and take him to a room where they would question him.
The security personnel would then seize the stolen items from their victim and collect money for not reporting the theft to the police and free him.
The suspects would also take personal details of those detained for thefts and take written undertaking that they would not inform the police of the incident.
After receiving a tip-off, the police sought formal approval from the Public Prosecution and planned a sting operation to catch the culprits. Their room was searched following the trap that was laid and the police discovered a number of photographs, files and papers, said the ministry statement.
Those arrested were interrogated and a report was forwarded to the authorities concerned for legal action, according to the ministry statement.
This newspaper has, meanwhile, learned that the Interior Ministry has convened a meeting of senior representatives of major retail outlets such as malls and hypermarkets. It is, however, not known if this or some other issues would be discussed at the proposed meet. Incidentally, the arrest of the security personnel of the mall follows a crackdown by the Interior Ministry on private security agencies to check if they were following the required standards.
The clampdown was launched after a security agency’s licence was cancelled for employing unqualified staff despite repeated warnings. The company had employed people who were not on its sponsorship and were not trained. A senior Interior Ministry official said late last month that some of the guards the company had were actually cooks and carpenters.
The Peninsula
