A Dubai Police CID team has arrested three Bangladeshi suspects who had failed in their attempt to rob a jewellery shop in the Al Rafaa area of Dubai, said a top Dubai Police official.
“The incident took place on August 28 at 3.30am when the security alarm of the shop went off. A police team rushed to the area and surrounded it. They waited for the shop owner to come and open the outlet,” he said.
When the police went inside, they found nothing missing in the shop. However, when they went to the mezzanine floor office of the shop, they saw an opening of about 20x20 cm on the ceiling that connects to a flat in the first floor of the building.
Inside the flat, police found that the suspects had left the place in a hurry, leaving behind the tools used for digging the hole and even the door was left open.
Police then informed the flat owner, an Indian, who told them that he had sublet the apartment about three months ago.
The CID official, Lt Col Ahmed Al Marri, said that they formed two special teams to investigate the incident.
The first team covered the shop and the building, while the second team was focusing on shops from which the tools left behind by the suspects could have been bought. Apparently, all the tools were of good quality and branded ones.
“We were able to identify one of the suspects whose descriptions matched whatever details the Indian flat owner told us with the one who bought the tools,” he said.
One of the suspects had also brought a tool back to rectify a malfunction.
“Within 14 hours after the incident, we were able to arrest the first suspect from an industrial area of a nearby emirate,” he said.
The suspect admitted to the crime and said that he had two more partners – all Bangladeshis – and all had absconded from their sponsor.
Police were able to arrest the second suspect from Satwa and the third from Jebel Ali – all within 48 hours of the incident.
“The suspects had executed their plan in a very professional and meticulous manner. It was so accurate that it had the precision of a surgery,” Al Marri said.
He also revealed that the suspects had planned the robbery for the past three months.
“One of the suspects is specialised in building materials, while second is an electrician, with knowledge of security products. They got together and decided to carry out a big robbery that will help them fetch enough money to live the rest of their life happily.”
“They used to go to the Gold Souq area every day to look for opportunities and when they saw a ‘to let’ sign in one of the buildings that houses a jewellery shop, they decided to zero in on the outlet,” he said.
“They called the owner of the flat from a telephone booth and did not give him any identification documents so as to leave no traces of themselves and their activities.”
“They also used to pay their rent regularly,” he said.
“They switched off the electricity supply during the time of the robbery, which should have deactivated the security alarm too. But what went against them was that the security system had a backup battery, which was functioning even after the power was switched off. When the suspects started their work, the alarm went off, alerting the police.”
“From this incident, there are two important messages. First, people should not sublet without proper knowledge or identification of the tenant; second, use state-of-the-art security systems in shops,” said Al Marri.
The suspects have been referred to the Dubai Public Prosecution for further investigation.
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