MOSCOW, March 9 (AFP) - A Siberian traffic policeman was arrested for taking a 2,000-ruble (67-dollar) bribe and then trying to conceal his crime by eating the money, investigators said Tuesday.

The police captain in the Chelyabinsk region, Alexei Nikolayev, extorted the bribe from a driver on March 2 in exchange for not reporting a traffic offence, investigators said.

The driver tipped off police, who detained Nikolayev later that day as he picked up the cash.

The policeman then locked himself in his police car and "ate the received money -- a 1,000-ruble note and two 500-ruble notes," investigators said.

The policeman is still being investigated for accepting a bribe.