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28 March 2024

Employees foil robbery at Dubai petrol pump

Published
By VM Sathish

A brave petrol station salesman and his colleague overpowered a gang of thieves who tried to rob an Eppco petrol station in the Al Qusais area of Dubai on Friday morning.

The Dubai Police have launched a manhunt for the gang members who fled the crime scene, after the attempted robbery was sabotaged by the timely action of the two employees.

The robbery attempt took place at 2.45 am on Friday and has shocked petrol station and convenient store staff, especially those doing night shifts.

Emirates 24|7 can reveal that the Dubai Police have CCTV images of the suspects.

Speaking to this website, an informed source said the two men reached the Eppco station, located near the Etisalat Metro Station, and were hanging around for quite some time.

Suddenly one of them tried to pin down Suresh, an Indian salesman at the site who was arranging the newspapers at the counter near the petrol dispensers.

The other attacker tried to snatch the pouch containing the daily collection.

“He had around Dh3,000 in his pouch. He was sitting down and arranging the newspapers, when he was attacked from behind and he fell to the ground

“However, he bravely did not let go of the pouch and called his colleague for help.

His colleague Balu came running outside and raised an alarm.

The thieves panicked and then fled, with Balu giving chase.

A Dubai Police official said: “One of the gang members was moving around randomly in the petrol station, apparently looking for the right time to snatch the money bag. However, the brave salesmen should be appreciated for their alert actions.”

The two employees told this website they were just doing their job. They also declined to be photographed.

In June 2011 two masked men robbed an Emarat petrol station at gunpoint and disappeared with Dh8,000 Three people were arrested in that case.

In another case in Sharjah, this year, two men robbed a petrol station at gunpoint, but were arrested within a few days.

Sharjah shopkeepers on alert after string of cash-box snatches

Sharjah Police is investigating the partially foiled robbery attempt.

Two or three customers tried to snatch cash from the cashier at the Haram Al Madeena Supermarket near the Clock Tower in Shajah on Friday. The shop does good business on normal days and is very busy during weekends.

“Two customers who looked like Africans came to the supermarket at around 11 pm on Friday. They picked a Seven-Up, approached the cash counter and paid Dh 5. When the cashier opened the cash box to return the balance amount, two of them tried to snatch money from the cash box,” according to Asif Panoor, cashier of the shop.

Sharjah Police has questioned the employees and examined the closed circuit television images to track down the culprits.

“One of the robbers engaged the cashier at the counter in a conversation and, after diverting his attention, tried to snatch cash from a box which contained Dh200 and Dh500 currency notes,” said the manager of the supermarket.

“They took out the maximum number of notes by force and tried to escape but employees of the supermarket and customers chased them. Some of the looted money was dropped on the road. One of the robbers was almost caught and part of the Dh 10,000 retrieved but they ran in different directions and managed to escape with Dh4,000,” said an employee.

Similar robberies have been reported from other shops in Rolla. A convenience store in an industrial area of Sharjah was looted. Daylight robberies have been reporter earlier in Sharjah, especially in the industrial areas.

“These gangs target busy supermarkets and groceries during rush hours. Now we are very careful about strange customers,” said the manager of the shop.

“We have lost our generator and air conditioner from our company’s premises in Sharjah industrial area. Such crimes are very common here,” said a businessman.

[Click here to read a series of robberies in one night]