Dubai: A jobless man has been cleared of forcing his way into a flat and stealing Dh11,000 in different currencies and other valuables at knifepoint.
Three Chinese men were sleeping in their flat sometime after midnight when four countrymen forced their way into the flat in November 2016.
The assailants assaulted the three roommates and threatened them with a knife and then tied their hands with plastic tapes and muzzled one of them.
Records said the Chinese gang stole Dh11,000 worth of US dollars, Chinese yuan and dirhams and also stole the roommates’ phones.
Police identified one of the culprits, a 49-year-old Chinese man, through the building’s surveillance cameras.
The 49-year-old man was known to the police because he had a criminal record, as he had been involved in similar robberies.
Citing lack of corroborated evidence, the Dubai Court of First Instance acquitted the suspect of breaking into the flat and stealing at knifepoint.
The 49-year-old man pleaded not guilty in court.
A policeman claimed to prosecutors that the roommates reported to the Dubai Police’s operations room about the armed burglary at 9.40am.
“We went to the flat and on-site investigation revealed the involvement of the suspect who was known to us for being involved in similar incidents. One of the robbed roommates alleged that the four Chinese culprits forced their way into the flat and assaulted them. He also claimed that the assailants tied them up and muzzled him with a tape on his mouth … then they stole their money after they threatened to kill them with a knife. Following the arrest of the 49-year-old suspect, the roommates identified him in the line-up three times,” the corporal testified to prosecutors.
Police are still searching for the remaining suspects.
