An Indian worker was shot dead by a Saudi yesterday in Qatif in the Eastern Province.

Mohammed Siraj, from the Karnataka state in India, who was working as a driver with a Saudi family, was slain by a citizen who fired at him in the Umm Al-Hammam area.

Indian community worker Ameer in Qatif told Arab News the the body was moved to Dammam Central Hospital for a postmortem and forensic examination. According to Ameer, Siraj had been working for the last two years and had gone on vacation recently to get married and then returned to the Kingdom.

Spokesman for the Eastern Province police Lt. Col. Ziyad

Al-Reqaity said the shooter surrendered to police. A revolver was recovered.

In a separate incident, a farmhand confessed to police that he murdered his Saudi employer and buried him at a construction site near a farm in a village in Qatif.

Zaki Al-Ashour’s body was found at the site of a building under construction on his farm in the Umm Al-Sahek village last Wednesday. He had been missing for five days.

Al-Hayat daily reported that police arrested the Bangladeshi worker after initially suspecting four Arab expatriates who once worked at the construction site.

The suspect was arrested because it later became evident that he had had a quarrel with Al-Ashour because he was blamed for the poor state of a green house on the farm.

The farmhand allegedly hit the owner with a hard object during the fight, according to police reports. Police added that the suspect then dragged the body to the construction site. He also tied his hands and legs with a rope.

However, a police statement on the crime did not specify the nationality of the arrested man.

“The Safwa police station has been striving to unravel the circumstances that led to the disappearance and murder of Al-Ashour after his body was found with hands and legs bound. An Asian worker has been arrested for his suspected involvement in the crime,” Al-Reqaity said.

The spokesman added that the suspect confessed to the crime when confronted with strong evidence produced by an investigation team under Brig. Ali Al-Qahtani.

In his confession statement, the suspect said he hit his employer on the head with a block of cement in the course of a dispute. He later buried the body.