Man accused of impersonation and assault

Dubai: A dyer has been accused of using a Saudi police identification card to stop a worker in the street before assaulting him.

The 29-year-old Pakistani dyer, H.M., was said to have posed as a Saudi policeman when he stopped the Indian worker and asked him to present his personal identification papers. Then he assaulted the worker and stole Dh50 from him in July.

Prosecutors accused H.M. and other suspects, who remain at large, of impersonation, consuming liquor, theft and attempted theft.

The suspect entered a not guilty plea before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Monday.

He only admitted that he consumed alcohol.

According to the charge sheet, prosecutors said the defendant and the runaways beat up the Indian worker in public and stole his money after they claimed to be policemen. They also attempted to steal his mobile phone and another construction worker’s phone.

The worker testified to prosecutors that he and his workmates were outside their labour accommodation when a group of Pakistani men stopped them.

“The men claimed to be policemen and asked us for identification papers. Then they asked us to kneel down … and so we did. Then they asked us to give them our money and mobile phones. My workmate handed them his money and we gave them our mobiles. Suddenly they beat us and ran away. We stood up and chased them after we realised that they were not policemen. We managed to stop H.M. with the help of another pedestrian. The runaways stole my Dh50,” he claimed.

The construction worker claimed to prosecutors that when they stopped H.M. they recovered their phones and handed him over to the police.

The suspect was cited admitting to prosecutors that he obtained the Saudi police ID when he used to work in Saudi Arabia.

“The runaways and I consumed liquor behind my residence in Jebel Ali. Then we stopped the workers in the street and took their money and phones,” he was quoted as saying.

A ruling will be heard soon.