Asian shopkeeper on trial for misusing ID card copy

Manama

An Asian mobile shop salesman used a stranger’s ID to issue 19 SIM chips to customers, the High Criminal Court heard. He is standing trial for forging and misusing an ID not belonging to him.

It is claimed he had a copy of the Pakistani victim's ID card, which he used to sell the chips to several buyers in 2014. He was arrested following a tip-off to police. "I made the copy of the Pakistani man's ID upon his request when he visited me. He said he would return to collect it but he didn't," the accused said in his statement.

"After a few days a person came looking for a chip but he didn’t have an ID card. I issued a chip using the copy of the Pakistani man's ID. I issued chips to several other recently arrived expatriates using the same ID card, for their convenience.

The accused claimed he wasn’t aware he was committing a crime and therefore could not be prosecuted.

It's worth noting several bombings took place in Bahrain during the past four years using mobile phones as detonators. The devices were operated by SIM chips issued in the Pakistani national's ID.