A Polish private detective, recently elected to the European Parliament, masterminded the capture of a gang of Polish blackmailers in Sweden -- only to find himself briefly detained by Swedish police at the scene. Detective-cum-politician Krzysztof Rutkowski, famous at home for catching car thieves, had been hired by a Pole with a building business in Sweden who said he was being blackmailed.
Swedish police said the businessman reported the blackmail Wednesday and later called them to his home in the Stockholm suburb of Varberg, where they found three men handcuffed on the floor. Rutkowski and four helpers, all in camouflage fatigues, had apparently ambushed the alleged blackmailers and overpowered them. The capture was being filmed by a crew from private Polish television TVN on which Rutkowski has a regular show. "The police were of course confused at first -- there were five men in uniform and three men on the ground with handcuffs, all of them Poles," local police chief Christer Sjoblom told Reuters. "It was a good, clean arrest," he said admiringly. Police at first detained everybody present, but quickly released Rutkowski who as a member of the European Parliament has immunity. His helpers were released Thursday. |