Dubai: No reports of attempted or actual kidnapping of students from Dubai schools were ever reported to any of Dubai Police’s stations, an official said on Tuesday.
Lt Col Adel Al Joker, head of investigation at Dubai Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID), told Gulf News that concerns expressed in an advisory letter issued by a school at the end of January claiming that a stranger approached two students are unfounded.
“We have not received any official reports or even complaints of such incidents ever, neither from schools nor parents,” he said.
However, he added, Dubai Police took the initiative when they received the information after it was circulating on social media — although there was a lack of a report from the school.
“We went to the school who issued the advisory and spoke to the principal, who said that one of the parents had told them about the incident,” he said.
Police then contacted the parent, and the parent said that they heard of such incidents but nothing had happened to them.
“We found out that in such cases of schools issuing advisory letters, some parents are worried about their children who sometimes wait outside the school gates for their parents without any safety measures such as cameras outside the school gates,” Lt. Col Al Joker explained. He added that they take such cases very seriously.
“We urge schools to contact the police with these concerns instead of sending out letters to the students and their parents, which only cause worry when in reality there is no reason for it,” he said.
Schools, he said, can only protect the children within their premises, but outside the gate it is the responsibility of the police.
“If a school approaches us with any safety or security concerns, the relevant department will then take the required steps and procedures to ensure the safety of students,” he noted.
He refrained from naming the schools involved.
