Sudanese jewel thief deported
By MOHAMMED ASLAM, Gulf Daily News.
Aug 26, 2005 (Bahrain) — A Sudanese man has been arrested in Oman in connection with the theft of jewellery and BD20,000 in cash from a Bahraini businesswoman. The 26-year-old was apprehended in Muscat after authorities alerted Interpol to the disappearance.
He has been flown back to Bahrain to face criminal charges after he was tracked down to the address of one of his friends.
It is claimed he fled Bahrain after stealing the cash and jewellery on March 20 and headed to Qatar.
The cash and three silver rings, a gold ring and a white gold ring inlaid with a ruby and two diamonds went missing from the home of a 46-year-old Bahraini businesswoman in Ghufool.
She told police that the Sudanese man was staying at her home temporarily and worked for her as a salesman, but disappeared on the same day as the theft took place.
However, the defendant claimed he had never been to Bahrain before and said he had been mistaken for another man with the same name.
He also claimed that a copy of a passport supplied by the businesswoman as proof does not belong to him.
Police in Oman contacted the Bahraini authorities on July 23 and informed them that an arrest had been made.
However, the defendant has pleaded not guilty to theft in Bahrain’s Lower Criminal Court. The businesswoman told police that she left the defendant alone in her house after getting an urgent call from her son.
“I was in my house and I had BD20,000 in an envelope in my bag,” she said in her statement.
“The defendant was also in my house in another room.
“He worked for me as a sales representative and I gave him temporary accommodation because he only arrived in Bahrain recently.
“Then I received a telephone call from my son who needed me urgently and I had to go to see him.
“I went out in a hurry and left my bag with the money in the house.
“When I returned the handbag, the money in it was missing and the defendant had gone.”
She said her daughter contacted Bahrain International Airport, which said he had boarded a plane for Doha, Qatar. An arrest warrant was issued on March 23 and the suspect was apprehended in Oman late last month.
However, he claims that he has never been to Bahrain before and asked the court to check with the General Directorate of Nationality, Passport and Residence (GDNPR) to prove his innocence.
“I have not come to Bahrain earlier,” he said in his police statement.
“The first time I came to Bahrain was after Interpol arrested me in Muscat where I was staying with a friend.
“I did not steal anything in my life.
“There is a mix-up in the names because my name is identical to the name of the thief.”
The court ordered the defendant to remain in police custody until the next hearing on Tuesday.