Expats Threatened, Beaten And Robbed

DT: Masked men yesterday reportedly broke into a flat in West Aker and robbed the occupants.

In a separate incident, occupants of a nearby building barricaded their main door to prevent a group of around 10 masked men from breaking into their accommodation, an hour later.

The masked men told the residents, all of them from India, to vacate the area after they failed to enter the house and threatened dire consequences if they did not. The incident happened at 3am and the attackers spoke in Arabic, the victims told DT.

In the first incident, the masked men made away with a total of BD560 from the Indians who occupied the flat. They are employed at a bakery nearby.

More thanBD500 was stolen from a man from Uttar Pradesh. “That was the salary I had received recently,” the man said. BD50 was stolen from a man from Kerala and BD10 was taken from a man from Andhra Pradesh.

“We were sleeping in our flat after duty hours. I heard some noise outside and got up to check. When I looked out of the window, I saw a group of masked men trying to open the metal door of our building,” one of the occupants said, requesting anonymity. He then alerted his colleagues, but by then the masked group had kicked open the main door and the door of their flat.

“Three of them entered our flat and I could hear the others talking outside. The men beat us and searched our room for money and other valuables,” he said. Before leaving, the attackers told the residents to leave the area and added that they would be harmed if they did not. “Just a few minutes later we saw the group attack another man who works at a khuboos shop. They hit him and I think he was hurt on his arm,” the man said. The Indians also said that a group of masked men tried to force their way into a flat located about 500 metres away occupied by their colleagues. They were wielding metal pipes and wooden sticks. “They could not get in because the residents pushed the door and held it tight to stop them from entering,” he said. “They finally gave up, but warned our friends to vacate their flat and get out of the area.” The victims lodged a police complaint at the Sitra Police Station.

The Indians said they were scared of staying in the area, but expressed their helplessness as their place of work was in the same area.