Dubai: Five bootleggers have been jailed for five years each for ganging up on two blacksmiths, battering them with sticks and causing the death of one of them.

The five Indian suspects were selling alcohol illegally in a sandy area in Al Quoz at night when the two Egyptian blacksmiths walked up to them in December.

The Indians, aged between 25 and 28, took out sticks and assaulted the blacksmiths.

The two Egyptians tried to run away but the assailants chased them and rained blows on them with the sticks until one of them dropped down unconscious.

The other blacksmith, aged 47, got away from his attackers and fled to the labour accommodation where he stayed, according to records, adding that he didn’t once look back as he was afraid of meeting the same fate as his countryman.

Then he gathered his co-workers and told them what had happened to them.

The 47-year-old and his coworkers went to check on their friend [who died] and, when they reached the sandy spot, they saw police cars and pedestrians gathered around and an ambulance.

Medical reports said attempts to revive him did not succeed and that the victim succumbed to his injuries.

Primary police interrogations led to the arrest of the five bootleggers one after the other.

The Dubai Court of First Instance convicted the defendants of beating the 47-year-old and causing him injuries in his back and head. They were also found guilty of beating the other Egyptian with sticks and causing his death unintentionally.

The defendants pleaded not guilty.

Presiding judge Fahd Al Shamsi said the five convicts will be deported following the completion of their punishments.

The injured Egyptian said the incident happened shortly after he and his countryman went out for a walk at night.

“A group of men [the defendants] came out of a dark alley and they set upon us. They attacked us with the sticks … my friend fell down and could not save himself. They also beat me brutally on the back of my head but I managed to escape quickly. I did not even dare to look behind me and ran away at full speed without knowing my friend’s fate. I suffered several bruises and injuries … later I came to know that my countryman had died,” he claimed.

A police lieutenant testified that primary interrogations led to the arrest of the five suspects.

“During questioning, the defendants claimed that the blacksmiths and two others had been posing as policemen and taking away the proceeds from their sale of liquor. Then the blacksmiths and others ganged up against them and assaulted them to stop them from taking the money they used to make from selling alcohol,” he said.

The primary ruling remains subject to appeal within 15 days.