Cops’ murder case: Verdict to be announced on March 31

Court ruling will be announced on March 31 in the trial of 10 appellants convicted in connection with murdering three policemen on March 3, 2014. Three of them were earlier handed down death sentence each, while the other seven defendants were given life in prison each. 

Emirati officer First Lieutenant Tariq Al Shehhi, 41, Yemeni Ammar Abdu Ali Al Dhalei, 35, and Pakistani Muhammad Arslan Ramzan, 22, lost their lives when an improvised explosive was remotely-triggered as police came under attack following a funeral procession around 5 pm in Daih. 

At least seven others were injured during the detonation, which recorded the highest death toll suffered by security forces in a single attack since the 2011 unrest. The  Interior Ministry said it was one of three blasts in Daih, although two resulted in no injuries. 

A fourth bomb was found and defused. A medical examiner earlier said before the court that injuries incurred by the victims were caused by projectiles packed inside the explosive device. He said that the victims died on account of the explosion. 

Judges at the High Criminal Court had also ordered to revoke the nationality of all the convicts except the ninth and 10th defendants. The Bahrainis were fined a combined total of BD929.661 for the property damage caused by the blast. 

The defendants - allegedly members of the so-called Saraya Al Ashtar (Al Ashtar Brigade) - made 10 home-made explosives, while the third and fourth defendants, aged 24 and 40, planted three of the bombs near a mall in Daih. 

According to prosecutors, the 40-year-old defendant was paid BD1,400 and instructed to buy bomb-making materials, make the explosive, observe policemen and co-ordinate the operation.  

The 24-year-old was said to have been lying in wait on top of a building to trigger the fatal blast. The first and second defendants were reportedly responsible of forming the group. The fifth defendant participated in the crime by recording the incident, while the sixth, seven, eighth, ninth and 10th defendants had surveyed the scene.