Three expats jailed for robbery

Manama: Three Pakistani men accused in connection with robbing a jewellery shop owner has been handed down five years in prison each. The defendants will be deported once they complete their jail term.

The incident occurred in Manama, and the trio are said to have kept tabs on their 55-year-old victim for almost five days without noticing that their movements were recorded by a CCTV camera installed in the area.

According to the court documents, the defendants attacked the owner while he was leaving the shop, holding a bag containing BD8,000.

The first defendant was reportedly the mastermind of the crime, and he planned to carry out the robbery in a narrow alley that the victim was using to reach his car.

“For five days I had been following him, watching the paths that he used frequently. I realised that he would leave his shop every day in the afternoon and he was regularly using an alley which wasn’t being used by many people,” the first defendant told prosecutors after he was arrested.

“We pounced on him as soon as he walked through the alley,” he added.

The defendants are said to have divided the stolen amount equally.

They were eventually arrested after the police reviewed the footage captured by the nearby CCTV
camera.