Dubai: An Algerian man followed a Chinese messenger for three days before fatally stabbing him inside a lift and stealing Dh1.2 million in cash from him in Naif area, Dubai Police said Wednesday.
The incident took place on June 4 and the suspect was arrested in less than 24 hours while he was trying to escape to Oman a day later.
The police also detained his wife while she was trying to escape along with her two children from Dubai Airport.
Major General Khamis Mattar Al Mazeina, Dubai Police Chief, Wednesday said the victim, H.H., 21, who worked as a messenger for a company, was being followed for three days by the Algerian suspect, M.A., 34, before he cornered him in the service elevator of his office building.
Arrests
“We arrested three suspects — the Algerian suspect who stabbed and took Dh1.2 million from the victim and the suspect’s Algerian wife and a friend, who both were given part of the money,” he said. H.H. was taking the money to a nearby bank.
On June 4, Dubai Police received a call from an Indian cleaner, R.M., saying he had found a body lying in a pool of blood inside the service elevator.
Teams from Dubai Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) rushed to the scene, where they found the victim’s body and his bicycle in the elevator. He was stabbed twice.
Maj Gen Al Mazeina said the forensics report indicated H.H. had sustained two stab injuries, one deep cut in the chest that severed some coronary arteries and another on his left shoulder. The injuries led to severe haemorrhaging.
A CID team identified the suspect and was able to find out that he was attempting to escape to Oman by land and informed the Omani authorities.
He was tracked through CCTV cameras.
“Because the teams moved fast, we were able to catch him in Hatta before leaving the UAE, where he was planning to enter Oman illegally in a cargo truck.” Maj Gen Al Mazeina said, adding that M.A. had Dh200,000 on him.
The suspect confessed to the crime and was transferred to prosecutors.
Stolen money
Meanwhile, the police also arrested the suspect’s wife, A.M., who was accompanied by her two children at Dubai Airport as she was about to escape to Algeria carrying more than Dh100,000 of the stolen money.
The wife confessed that her husband gave her the money and that she gave Dh713,000 to the suspect’s friend, A.A., also an Algerian.
A.A. was arrested at his company on Al Maktoum Road.
Meanwhile, the Dubai Police chief offered his deepest condolences to the Republic of China and the victim’s parents, who will be receiving their son’s body after they arrive here.
