Page 51 - Bahrain Gov Annual Reports (IV)_Neat

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The attempt to murder was made by an Antiguan, a member of the crew of a ship which was
anchored at Sitra. He quarrelled with one of his shipmates, who was also a coloured man, and
stabbed him severely with a knife. He was sentenced to five years rigorous imprisonment. As it
was found that he was a competent shoemaker he was put to work in the shoemaker's shop.
Suicide among Bahrain Arabs is very rare but there was a ease of suicide at Budeya. A
prostitute after quarrelling with one of her friends poured a tin of kerosene over her clothes and then
set light to them. She was taken to the hospital but she died from the effects of the bums.
The riots which occurred on 22nd of Muharram (4th December 1947) after demonstrations
against the partition of Palestine resulted in the prosecution of 54 persons who were arrested by the
Police during and immediately after the disturbances.

During the year 338 cases of theft were reported to the police as compared with 414 reported
cases in the previous year. Out of these 97 cases were forwarded to the courts and 241 cases were
not detected. In most of the cases it was claimed that cash or gold ornaments had been stolen but
in certain instances there was reason to believe that the reports of thefts were not genuine. In one
case, where the police failed to catch the thieves, robbers broke into a store near the vegetable market,
through the roof, and stole Rs. 40,000 worth of jewellery and money.
In other cases the police were more successful. A wealthy Arab woman from Muharraq, who
was blind, hired a house for the summer on the western coast on the edge of Manama. The house
was broken into one night and a quantity of golden ornaments were stolen from the woman’s
quarters. Police investigations led to suspicion of the tenants of a neighbouring garden who proved to
be the thieves. The thieves and the receivers were arrested and all the stolen property was recovered.
Special efforts were made by the police to catch people engaged in pilfering ships’ cargo. A
gang was caught red-handed in Manama harbour. They were engaged in stealing cases of tea and
clothing from one of the Landing Company’s barges. The nakhuda, some of the crew, the broker
and the purchaser of the stolen property were arrested, proved guilty and sentenced to imprisonment.
This case disclosed the fact that there was a regular organisation working for the disposal of stolen
cargo which was sent to Qatar for disposal.
During the year numbers of Indians, mostly from Pakistan, entered Bahrain. Many of them
claimed to be relatives of Indians living in Bahrain. From a police point of view the presence of these
people who in many cases were unemployed was not desirable. A case occurred in which a Pakistani
snatched a handful of gold from a goldsmith's shop and attempted to escape to a boat in the harbour.
He was caught by the police.
The prevention of the use of liquor and drugs continued to engage the police. During the
year 53 persons were arrested for selling or being in possession of liquor, opium and hashish. After
the riots in Muharram the police made a seaxch of a Khan for looted property, in one of the rooms they
found 16 lbs. of hashish in the possession of a man who had in the past been trading in drugs. In
spite of the efforts of the Government more and more Moslems in Bahrain have become addicted to
drink. Imported liquor finds its way to the black market and people who know where to go can obtain
whisky, gin and beer if they are prepared to pay for it. Liquor is sold only to permit holders, the
same liquor which is sold to permit holders is bought by Arabs in the black market. Some of the
liquor in the black market is stolen from messes and from private houses but there is reason to believe
that much of it is sold by persons holding permits who by selling one bottle can obtain sufficient
money to pay for their liquor ration. Most of the people engaged in the liquor trade are taxi drivers
and prostitutes. The latter are frequently paid in liquor instead of in cash.
There were 37 fires during the year, all were due to negligence or natural causes. No lives were lost.

TRAFFIC SECTION
The year under review was the third year in which the British police were in charge of the
Traffic Section. The following tables give a comparison of the number of accidents and the number
of vehicles which were registered during the four years.