New Delhi: On the morning of 31 January 2011, Bahraini national Mohammed Sultan Al-Motawa was killed allegedly by his driver, an Indian citizen. Bahraini courts found evidence conclusive enough to order life imprisonment for Subhash Chander Mahla in absentia. He had fled the kingdom after committing the alleged offence.
More than 14 years later, on 10 June 2025, India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a chargesheet against Mahla for the alleged murder. A week before that, the agency filed a chargesheet against another Indian national for a 2008 murder in Abu Dhabi.
These are among unique cases investigated by the CBI, based on recommendations from the government and material evidence shared with the agency by the Ministry of External Affairs as provided by the foreign authorities.
The agency has charged Mahla under section 302 (murder) and 404 (dishonest misappropriation of property possessed by a deceased person at the time of their death) of the Indian Penal Code based on forensic evidence and other related material shared by the Bahraini authorities with the Government of India.
An agency spokesperson said Friday the investigation revealed that Mahla was aggrieved by his employer’s continued misbehaviour and planned to kill him. On 31 January 2011 when his boss was alone, the accused assaulted him with a solid, traumatising tool, leaving him dead. After Al-Motawa’s death, Mahla also stole the money from his slain employer, the spokesperson further said.
In the second case, the agency filed a chargesheet against Inder Jit Singh on 17 June 2025 for allegedly murdering another Indian citizen, Rama Lingam Natesan, in Abu Dhabi in August 2008.
Natesan used to sell international SIM cards in Abu Dhabi and Singh would purchase them from him on a credit basis, the CBI spokesperson said,
“Over a period of time, the debt of Inder Jit Singh reached AED (Arab Emirates dirham) 300. Due to this, a dispute broke out between them. When Rama Lingam Natesan asked the employer of Inder Jit Singh to deduct his outstanding dues from his salary, Inder Jit Singh hatched a plan to kill Rama Lingam Natesan. On 28.08.2008, finding Rama Lingam Natesan alone, Inder Jit Singh assaulted him with a sharp knife causing grievous injuries to him, to which he later succumbed,” the spokesperson said.
CBI FILES CHARGE SHEETS AGAINST TWO INDIAN NATIONALS FOR MURDER IN UAE AND BAHRAIN pic.twitter.com/dBcPwnF9e2
— Central Bureau of Investigation (India) (@CBIHeadquarters) June 27, 2025
Before filing the chargesheets, the agency obtained sanctions from the central government after the conclusion of investigations and examined the accused based on evidence shared by U.A.E. and Bahraini authorities, officials said.
However, neither was arrested as they never evaded examination by the agency, ThePrint has learnt.
Trials of crimes committed abroad
Investigation into crimes committed by foreign nationals in a country are covered by the extradition treaties signed between the nationalities involved. In the instant cases, the need for local prosecution arose from the treaties India has signed with the U.A.E. and Bahrain. The treaties bar extradition.
In Singh’s case, the Abu Dhabi trial court-Criminal Circuit handed him the death penalty in April 2009, and ordered him to pay the blood money (monetary support for the victim’s kin) of 200 AED.
UAE authorities reached out to their Indian counterparts for extradition, which is barred by Article 5 of the treaty between the two countries. So, the public prosecution in Abu Dhabi requested its counterparts in New Delhi in September 2012 to try the accused in a competent court.
“The nationals of the Contracting States shall not be extradited to the other Contracting State, provided that the requested State shall submit the case to its competent authorities for prosecution if the act committed is considered as an offence under the laws of both Contracting States,” says the Article 5 of the India-UAE extradition treaty signed in 1999.
Following on, the UAE embassy in New Delhi issued a note verbale in May 2016 seeking Singh’s prosecution in India. A month later, the Ministry of External Affairs responded to the note, seeking additional information beyond the dossier shared by the UAE authorities to establish the identity of the accused. It had sought a certified copy of the accused’s passport, as well as his photograph, to verify identity, fulfilling a total of four requirements.
Diplomatic exchanges flew back and forth between the MEA and the UAE embassy in New Delhi until November 2016, when the ministry wrote to the CBI to launch local prosecution in the matter.
The agency was mandated to perform this task earlier in May of that year by the Ministry of Personnel and Public Grievances, and to seek sanction for it from the MHA under Section 188 of the CrPC, which deals with offences committed outside India.
Based on the letter from the MEA, the agency finally booked Inder Jit Singh, a resident of Punjab’s Jalandhar, on 22 January 2020, under Section 302 of the IPC.
A similar provision was applied in the case of Mahla, who hails from Rajasthan’s Sikar district. A Bahraini court handed him life sentence in his absence. As his extradition was not possible under the terms of the treaty, the Bahraini authorities sought to prosecute him locally.
“Extradition shall be refused if the person wanted is a national of the requested State. For the purpose of this Treaty, nationality of the person sought for extradition shall be determined to be that at the time of the commission of the offence,” says the Article 6 of the India-Bahrain treaty signed in January 2004.
Based on material evidence shared with the Ministry of External Affairs, Mahla was booked under sections 302 and 404 of the IPC on 28 April 2022.
“The available information and documents as received from Kingdom of Bahrain through Ministry of External Affairs, Govt. of India, New Delhi are self-explanatory and disclose that there is sufficient evidence against Mr. Subhash Chandar Mahla to charge him for committing murder of Mohammed Sultan Al-Motawa at Bahrain on 31/01/2011,” the FIR stated.
It also revealed that Mahla fled to India immediately after committing the murder. “In view of the Extradition Agreement dt. 13/01/2004 between Republic of India and Kingdom of Bahrain, Local Prosecution against Mr. Subhash Chandar Mahla is being launched and he is charged for committing murder of Mohammed Sultan Al-Motawa at Bahrain on 31/01/2011 and also for committing Criminal Misappropriation of property possessed by deceased at the time of death which is an offence u/s 302 and 404 of IPC,” the FIR adds.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)