Two Bahrainis jailed for robbing Indians

A court in Bahrain has sentenced two men to 21 years in jail for robbing two Indians and some other tenants in apartment buildings here last year.

The High Criminal Court Thursday convicted the two Bahrainis after they were found guilty of theft and assault, the Gulf Daily News reported Friday.

Prosecutors said the duo, along with another man, raided some apartment buildings in Manama in April last year and fled with more than 2,000 Bahraini dinars (about $5,310) after robbing two Indians and a few other tenants.

One of the Indian victims told the police that the three men, holding walkie-talkies, walked into the apartment building where he worked as a receptionist and threatened him with a knife and forced him to open a cash teller. He said the trio robbed him of 1,629 Bahraini dinars ($4,325) and threatened other tenants to hand over any cash they had.

A 31-year-old Indian man, who worked as a receptionist at another building, said one of the robbers pretended to be drunk before committing the robbery.

"Two people came into the apartment building and one of them pretended to be drunk," he said in his statement to prosecutors.

"I ordered the security guards not to let him in because he was causing a disturbance. But after the guards left, three men came back and threatened to kill me with a knife if I did not hand over money.

"My colleague ran away and I was left alone to deal with the situation. The men took away 600 Bahraini dinars ($1,595) from me."

The third alleged robber was not implicated in the case because authorities could not identify him, the daily said.