23 detained in operation at Istanbul Fire Department

Çetin Aydın ISTANBUL

Police detained 23 people in an operation launched against members of the Istanbul Fire Department on Sept. 30.

The Organized Crime Police has begun investigating officials on charges of “acquiring unfair profit through preparing positive reports for buildings that do not have emergency stairways.”

Police detained 21 people from the fire department while the other two detained individuals are business owners who allegedly bribed the officials to receive permissions.

The detained officers, including auditors, have been taken to the Istanbul Police Department for questioning.

The police allegedly found out that the detained suspects granted positive reports to more than 300 buildings, including shopping centers, schools, hospitals, although the building slacked the necessary equipment for emergency incidents.

It is also claimed that the suspects have received up to 5,000 Turkish Liras from the owners of the buildings for each fault positive report they have prepared. The polic ehave wiretapped the suspects for a long period of time before startşng an operation.