Thieves who stole 30 kilos of jewellery jailed

The Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance awarded four jobless Afghanis five years in jail after finding them guilty of stealing 30 kilos of jewellery worth Dh11m.

They had made a hole in the wall of an adjacent shop under maintenance and another hole in the concrete safe of a jewellery shop in International City using a hammer, a steel scissor, screw drivers and 15 other steel tools.

The convicts, identified as HA, 27, BMF, 39, ZKT, 28, and MIK, 28, were also ordered to be deported after serving their jail terms by the Court. Two visitors -- SHK, 32, an Afghanistan-born Australian, and OMA, 37, Afghani- -- were sentenced to three years in jail followed by deportation for possessing jewellery with the knowledge that they were stolen.

Deira Prosecution Chief Yousef Mohammed Foulath asked the court to give the stiffest punishment for the accused.

Diel Kumar, Indian, 36, in charge of the jewellery shop, testified that on July 13 about 30 kilos of gold jewellery worth Dh11 million were stolen from the shop when it was closed from 10pm to 9.30am.

“The shop was closed but some one made a hole in the wall of the adjacent shop which was open for maintenance work. The thieves made another hole in the concrete wall of the safe and stole the jewellery in it,” he testified.

Policeman Habib Ali testified that, after investigating the case, HA was arrested. HA testified that while he was in his country, he received a call from his friend MIK asking him to come to the UAE to work. HA agreed and came to the UAE  and lives in the house of MIK where BMF and ZKT were also staying. One day, MIK brought tools in two bags and told them that he had decided to burgle a jewellery shop. The three agreed with him. Carrying  the bags, they took a taxi to the jewellery shop. MIK told the others that the jeweller’s adjacent shop is open and that he will make a hole to enter the jewellery shop. MIK decided where they should make the hole and then they started breaking the wall with the tools they had.

“Eight hours later, MIK asked HA to look from the hole into the jewellery shop to check if there were cameras inside. HA did that and saw two cameras on the right and the left sides of the hole, so he asked him to enter the shop and to switch off the electricity. After he did that, the other three got into the shop. MIK lead them to the concrete safe which had a steel door and asked them to make a hole in the concrete. Using the tools, they made a hole and emptied the safe of the jewellery which they put in the two bags they had brought,” HA told the investigator.

Then they entered the adjacent shop through the hole they had made and got out into the street. They took a taxi and drove to a house about an hour away from the shop and stayed there until SHK came .  SHK asked MIK why the rest are with him. MIK told him that they had participated in robbing the shop and that they will leave the UAE on the same day for Afghanistan. The two then agreed that they would melt down the jewellery to be able to sell it. Half an hour later, MIK gave HA and ZKT air-tickets and asked them to leave for the airport. ZKT ran away from the airport when he saw HA being arrested.

Police arrested rest of the accused and confiscated some of the jewellery with MIK and OMA. SHK confessed to receiving two bags that contained the jewellery from MIK.

Criminal Evidence reported that the camera had recorded them making the hole and also photographed two people inside the shop as they stepped towards the camera and switched it off. Forensic reported scratches on the body of ZKT that could have happened while passing through the hole in the wall. Finger prints and blood stains of ZKT, HA, BMF and MIK were taken from the jewellery and adjacent shops.

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