Indian expat jailed for 15 years for robbing compatriot

An Indian expatriate has been jailed for 15 years, along with a local friend, for kidnapping and robbing a compatriot in Bahrain, a media report said.

The unidentified Indian, 31, along with his Bahraini accomplice robbed the 35-year-old Indian victim, a labourer, after abducting him in their car while impersonating as police officers in Bahrain's Sanad town in September last year, Gulf Daily News reported Tuesday.

They took him to the desert, tied him up with a piece of cloth and covered his face, before stealing two mobile phones and 360 Bahraini dinars (around $955) from his wallet. They then abandoned him in the desert.

The High Criminal Court in Bahrain Monday convicted the two of theft, assault, kidnap and impersonating officers and jailed them for 15 years each.

The court also ordered the deportation of the Indian defendant after completion of his imprisonment.

Both men have been implicated in two other cases connected to theft and kidnap, the report said.

Prosecutors claim the suspects also stole around 10,000 Bahraini dinars by randomly targeting expatriates in Salmabad, Sanad and capital Manama in December 2013.

The Indian suspect, who was employed in the Bahrain's interior ministry for nine years, contended that he carried out the crimes because he needed money.

After he quit his job, he drew a plan with his friend to kidnap and rob people in Salmabad, Sanad and Manama, the report said.