9.25 AM Friday, 29 March 2024
  • City Fajr Shuruq Duhr Asr Magrib Isha
  • Dubai 04:56 06:10 12:26 15:53 18:37 19:52
29 March 2024

1,977 mobiles worth Dh1.3 million stolen

1,977 mobile phones worth more than Dh1.3 million were stolen from a shop in Dubai's Naif area. (Supplied)

Published
By Eman Al Baik

Two Afghans, along with others, allegedly broke into an electronic products shop and stole 1,977 mobile phones worth more than Dh1.3 million, the Dubai Criminal Court heard.

On April 17 at around 2.45am while patrolling the  Fareej Al Marrar area,  a police team saw a pickup which was loaded haphazardly.

“I signalled to the driver to stop but instead he increased speed and when he tried to turn the vehicle into a branch road, he collided with four cars parked off the street. This forced the driver to stop and he and another person ran away, leaving behind the pickup with its engine running. My colleague and I chased the two who ran away in two different directions but we lost them,” said First Sergeant Abdulsalam Saeed.

The two policemen noticed that the door of an electronics shop was open. Crime scene investigators were rushed to the scene and the owner of the company was informed.

RA, 39, Indian businessman, rushed to the scene at around 4am and after checking the shop he reported that 1,977 mobile phones of different brands, including two mobiles of clients, were missing. The value of the stolen mobiles was Dh1,375,070.

Police confiscated 1,774 mobiles from the pickup but 207 mobiles worth Dh220,420 were still missing. Reviewing recordings of CCTV cameras inside and outside the shop, police found out that there were about six thieves. The victim was given his mobiles on the same day of the incident.

Police found out that the pickup van used for the theft was rented from a company in Al Ain.  Two people, accompanied by a third person, had approached the company and rented two vehicles. Six days later, police found out that the two renters of the vehicles as LM and HG. They were arrested from their homes in Ras Al Khaimah. The third suspect, SK, Pakistani, is missing.

However, the two denied participating in the theft and claimed that a third person identified as SK had asked them to take the vehicles on rent and asked them to hand over the pickup to another person.

“On April 16, I handed over the pickup to a man who was accompanying SK in the parking lot of a hotel in Naif area,” HG told investigators. “I returned to my house in Sharjah and stayed with LM and SK. At around 2am, SK received a call from someone, asking us to flee from the accommodation saying that he had an accident. We headed to Ras Al Khaimah, leaving behind the other rented car in Sharjah as per SK’s request,” HG said.

Police did not confiscate anything from the two suspects. They were released because there was not any clear cut evidence against them.

However, seven months later, on November 3, police arrested SB, 23, in another theft reported again in Naif area. Last month, SB and others was sentenced to three years in jail by the Criminal Court of First Instance for that theft.
While SB was being investigated in the theft case he was arrested for, police found out that his DNA matched that of gloves and other things that were found in the pickup van used in the mobile phone theft.

When confronted, SB admitted to robbing the mobile phone shop with HG and others whom he claimed he does not know. He claimed that he participated in the mobile phone theft for just Dh100.

A month later, on December 13, police suspected a group of people roaming around in Naif area late at night. After arrest, police found out that the DNA of one of them identified as BZ, 22, matched that which had been lifted from the pickup used in the mobile phone theft.

The prosecution asked the court to implement the stiffest penalty against the accused.

The court will give its verdict on April 30