Dubai: A man has been accused of landing a powerful punch on a policeman’s nose and fracturing it while the latter was handcuffing him for sticking massage service cards on car windshields.
A number of policemen were said to have spotted several pedestrians placing massage cards on windshields of cars parked in a residential area in November last year.
The policemen were carrying out a random inspection raid in streets in Al Ghusais looking out for illegal residents and persons involved in illegal activities such as promoting unlicensed massage centres around 7.30pm, said records.
Once the policemen spotted a 22-year-old Nigerian man placing massage cards on windshields, according to records, one of them, a sergeant, headed towards the man to stop him.
When the sergeant tried to restrain the 22-year-old, the latter resisted ferociously and punched the sergeant on his nose.
Other policemen prevented the Nigerian from running away, handcuffed him and took him to the police station.
Prosecutors charged him with resisting arrest and assaulting a sergeant.
Medical reports confirmed that the assaulted policeman sustained a fractured nose and a deviated septum.
When he showed up before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Thursday, the suspect contended that he resisted arrest and tried to run away but said that he did not assault the sergeant.
He asked the presiding judge to hand him a lenient punishment.
The sergeant testified to prosecutors that the suspect resisted brutally and ferociously before he punched him.
A police corporal confirmed his partner’s statement and claimed to prosecutors: “We were carrying out a random inspection for illegal residents. We saw the suspect placing massage cards on cars and when we tried to stop him, he started running. We stopped him instantly and when my partner tried to restrain him, he punched him. We managed to overpower him and handcuff him.”
A ruling will be heard on February 26.
