Manama: Police in Bahrain said that arsonists have torched 59 vehicles in a warehouse in Sitra, seven kilometres south of the capital Manama.
“At around 2:55 am, the Sitra Police Station received a report that members of a criminal gang had broken into the Hyundai warehouse and hurled petrol bombs at the vehicles inside,” the general director of the Central Governorate Police, said. “The police arrived at the scene with a civil defence team and found two Asian guards tied up and blindfolded inside the warehouse. The guards told police that they had been attacked by the arsonists and were then moved inside the facility,” he said in a statement.
According to the police, 59 vehicles were damaged in the fire and petrol tanks and petrol bombs were found at the scene.
“A forensic team was deployed and the public prosecution had been notified. The investigation will continue until the suspects are brought to justice,” he said.
Reports said that several young men assaulted the two Bangladeshi guards, tied them up with plastic cords and ropes.
A company official was quoted as saying that the 59 cars that were totally damaged were part of the 140 vehicles in the compound. The incident happened weeks after a car showroom also in Sitra was gutted and 11 Volvo cars were damaged.
The police also reported that a car was partially damaged after being hit by a homemade bomb at around 7 pm in Gudhaibiya, the Manama district where an Indian driver and a Bangladeshi street sweeper were killed this week in coordinated bomb explosions.
The spate of attacks has sparked angry reactions both locally and internationally and the government has pledged zero-tolerance and stringent action against those who backed or committed acts of sabotage.
