3 jailed for attempting to blow up fuel station

Manama: Three men accused of attempting to bomb a local fuel station has been slapped with 15 years behind the bars each.

A fourth defendant, aged under 18, implicated in the same case was given only three years in prison, while all the defendants were ordered to pay a combined total of BD11,767 in compensation of the damage they caused to the property.

The four are said to have attacked Sakhir Fuel Station at 2am on November 13, two years ago with firebombs, and placed a gas cylinder in the middle of the property in a bid to detonate it. They also tried to attack the employees of the station, but failed as they locked up themselves in a small room in the station. “One of them threatened me with a knife, and I fled. I left the station. Then one of the pumps caught fire,” one of the workers told prosecutors.

“The fire spread to the other pumps, but it was later put out by civil defence personnel. Fortunately, no vehicles were in the station at that time,” he added.

A member in the National Guard was nearby the station when the incident happened, and he said that he tried to pursue the culprits.

He, however, managed to note down the registration number of the vehicle that the culprits used to flee from the scene.

The defendants had been charged with attempting to bomb a private property and arson as well as possessing firebombs and threatening an employee with a knife.