Sitra policeman shooting suspects arrested

Manama : Several suspects were arrested yesterday in connection with the shooting of a police officer incident that occurred in Sitra during the past 48 hours.

Interior Ministry confirmed in a statement yesterday that “Criminal Investigation and Forensic Science General Director Brigadier Abdulrahman Al Sinan announced the arrest of several individuals suspected to be involved in the shooting of a policeman in Sitra.”

The statement explained that “the injured officer was referred to hospital for treatment and is now in a stable condition”. 

“The General Director stated that investigators had uncovered evidence that led to the identification of a number of suspects, some of which have been arrested.  He also said legal proceedings are being taken to refer the case to the Public Prosecution,” the Ministry’s statement added.

Sources informed that the victim is a First Lieutenant and was shot four times in the face, chest, abdomen and leg. They even mentioned that the bullets used were 6mm size and that he’s in a critical condition. However, this couldn’t be verified with the Ministry or the hospital.

In another development, a group called Saraya Al Mukhtar (Brigades of the Chosen One) has claimed the responsibility of the attack.

They said in a statement issued on Sunday that “the Lieutenant was ambushed with high accuracy and the appropriate weapon was used in the operation”. The group also threatened to target more policemen.

The terrorist group was involved in several armed attacks on security forces, including one assault that was committed by a 17-year-old member, who shot at policemen last year, without injuring any of them.

It was also reported that seven group members sexually assaulted a 15-year-old boy on a farm in Sanabis in 2015 and filmed the incident in a bid to blackmail him. Court files showed that the attackers kidnapped the boy, assaulted him and filmed him while confessing that he had cooperated with the security forces.

Meanwhile, the police set checkpoints on all entrances of Sitra in the past two days. The island, located on the eastern parts of Bahrain, witnessed numerous lethal attacks against policemen since the sad events in 2011. 

The last one was reported in July 2015, when two policemen were killed and six others were injured in a deadly attack on a police bus.