Dubai, Sep 29 (IANS): An Indian visitor to Dubai, who was caught not wearing a mask and flouting the city's Covid-19 rules, has been accused of offering a 3,000-dirham bribe to a policeman, it was reported.

The Dubai Court of First Instance heard on Monday that the incident took place during a national sterilisation programme in April, reports Gulf News.

A policeman, who was patrolling the Jebel Ali area, saw the 24-year-old Indian defendant and a woman outside a hotel.

Both were not wearing a face masks, failing to comply with the precautionary measures imposed to curb CovidD-19 spread.

"I stopped them as they weren't wearing a mask and were moving around without a permit, violating the movement restrictions in place," he added.

Upon stopping them, "he begged me to let him go and offered me 3,000 dirhams to leave him without legal action", the policeman added.

The Dubai Public Prosecution has charged the defendant with offering a bribe to a policeman on duty.