A general manager and his company’s security guard were sentenced to three years in prison for briefly kidnapping a man who allegedly sold them adulterated alcohol.
The High Criminal Court found the two Bahrainis guilty of depriving the Bangladeshi victim of his freedom after they forced him into the back of a vehicle and took his money.
The men, aged 32 and 46, reportedly worked for a facility management company that supplies and distributes alcoholic products to bars and nightclubs.
They both admitted to temporarily abducting the expat, claiming he tricked them by selling them sub-par alcohol that had been ‘adulterated’.
They threatened to take him to the police station if he did not give them a refund, and he did, according to their testimony.
“It was 2.30am and I was in Hoora,” the 34-year-old victim, who lives in Bahrain on a flexi-visa and mainly works as a car washer, told the Public Prosecution.
“The defendants came to me in a white vehicle, then one of them stepped out and dragged me inside the car. They said they would hand me over to the police.
“They took my phone and asked for money. One of the defendants put his hand in my pants pocket, pulled out my wallet and took BD500 from it. They then gave me my phone back and returned me to Hoora.”
After being freed, the expat reported the incident to the same police station, and an investigation was launched. A detective recovered security camera footage of the kidnapping incident, and was able to identify the suspects.
According to the policeman, the first defendant – the 46-year-old security guard – had prior convictions on his criminal record, and that the white Hyundai used to take the victim away was owned by his mother.
Meanwhile, the second defendant, the 32-year-old general manager, told the Public Prosecution that some of the accusations were true and some were false.
According to court documents, in late July, the second defendant had asked the first to bring alcoholic drinks for supply to nightclubs and gave him BD100 to pay for them.
When he brought the alcohol, it appeared to the second defendant that it was counterfeit, although the exact issue with the products was not specified.
After the first defendant’s shift, the two went to the person who sold them the dubious alcohol.
“I put the victim in the car, and told him that the product was messed up, and that he tricked us. I told him I’d take him to the authorities if he didn’t return our payment.
“As we got closer to the police station, he agreed, gave us BD74 and we let him go. We asked him for genuine products for BD100.”
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