Asian jails in forgery case

Manama : A 24-year-old Indian man convicted of forgery will serve three years in prison after the Supreme Appeals Court upheld his initial sentence.  

The defendant, who was working as a salesman in a mobile shop, reportedly took advantage of a coloured copy of a Pakistani’s ID to issue 19 SIM cards to customers in 2014, according to court files. 

He was arrested following a tip-off to the police. “I took the copy of the Pakistani man’s ID upon his request when he visited the shop. He said he would return to collect it but he didn’t,” the defendant said in his statement. “After a few days, a Bahraini requested me for a SIM card as he didn’t have an ID. So I gave him the SIM card using the copy of the Pakistani man’s ID.”

“Several expats, who arrived recently also came to me to buy SIM cards. I also sold them cards using the same ID copy,” he added. The 24-year-old defendant claimed that he was not aware of the gravity of his act. 

It’s worth noting that several bombings had been taken place in Bahrain during the past five years with the use of mobile phones as detonators. The SIM cards used in these devices were obtained by using departed Asian men’s ID.