SEVEN SENTENCED TO JAIL IN SEHLA EXPLOSION CASE

Seven men accused of detonating a booby-trapped car in Sehla were held guilty before the High Criminal Court yesterday.

Three of them were sentenced to 15 years each in jail, while the remaining were handed down 10 years each in prison.

The accused reportedly planted two gas cylinders inside the car before driving it to Sehla on August 29, 2013.

They exploded it using a mobile phone when police arrived the scene. Four policemen were injured in the blast.

Among the accused is a 32-year-old policeman who is said to have accepted money from Al Wefaq National Islamic Society to pay the rioters. He earlier admitted he knew about the attack plot days before it happened.

However, he denied taking part in the terror blast. “I got a message on WhatsApp from one of my friends, who told me they were about to carry out a blast using a booby-trapped car,’ he said in his statement earlier to prosecutors.

“He also asked me information about the vehicle’s registration. Later, I received another call from him saying he was about to carry out the operation in 10 minutes,” he said, adding, “I later heard Al Ashtar Brigades claimed responsibility of the attack.”

All the men have been accused of attempted murder and detonating and possessing explosive devices. Prosecutors said the gas cylinders connected to a mobile phone with wires and placed inside a booby-trapped car.

They added the blast was remotely detonated, and damaged the stolen and a nearby minibus.

The policeman’s friend, aged 22, confessed to detonating one of the devices.

He revealed he left the car near the entrance of the village. He, however, was nabbed on the scene after he fell to the ground from a car shade, where he hid and detonated the device. “When I woke up, I was at the Bahrain Defence Hospital, surrounded by policemen,” he said.