MADINA: The initial police report on the robbery of an Education Administration storage depot in Al-Mahd last Friday has condemned the administration for various failings and the warehouse secretary for delegating his responsibilities to an Egyptian living and working in the Kingdom illegally. The report also criticizes the failure to implement proper security at the site. Eighteen persons were arrested over the theft of goods, which included 54 laptop computers, surveillance cameras, plasma television screens, and scanning machines worth a total of over SR1 million, following its discovery during stock taking. Sources have told Okaz/Saudi Gazette, however, that all but two of the detained have been released but not exempt from further investigation. The governor of Al-Mahd reportedly asked the regional chief of police for details on the matter, to which the latter replied that there were “absolutely no safety or security measures put in place by the Education Administration whatsoever”. When the governor questioned the head of education he did not receive a prompt response, leading him to notify the Emir's Office. The education head has since been asked by police to carry out a full stocktaking in order to check the statements of the 18 who were held. The two persons remaining in custody are the warehouse guard who was on duty at the time of the robbery and the Egyptian man illegally tasked with certain duties, among them keeping possession of a copy of the warehouse keys. The robberies occurred with no signs of a break-in from the outside, with only one interior door damaged. “The stolen items were taken through the outer door, and investigators discovered that storage keys were handled by only three employees,” sources said previously. “It is possible it was planned in advance, a hypothesis supported by the fact that the security guard at the site left his post 24 hours before the incident. He claimed he had to leave for Friday prayer and lunch with his family.”
