Dubai: A Pakistani driver who was battling for his life when he was first admitted in a critical condition at the intensive care unit is in a stable condition after he was severely hit five times on the head with a hammer and robbed by a Filipino suspect.

The 30-year-old driver, identified as M.S., dropped off employees - working at a restaurant in Mall of the emirates - at 8 am in the morning and later took a handbag from the cashier that had the net profit of the restaurant to deliver to the head office, Major Mohammad Ahly, Director of Criminal Prosecution Department of Dubai Police told Gulf News.

This is the daily routine for the driver to drop off employees and collect the money from the restaurant. However, the process on Thursday and Friday is different as the driver collects the net profit of these two days in the following day, Saturday.

"The suspect knew this procedure … he knew if he robbed the driver on a Saturday the money will be much higher than any other day since it includes the sum of two days. We immediately knew that the crime was committed by someone from within the company as he knew all the logistics of delivering the package from the restaurants to the head office. From this clue we were certain the suspect must be an employee of the company," he said.

According to Major Saeed Al Ayalli, Acting director of the criminal investigation division within Dubai Police and search division within Dubai Police, the crime happened on the 13th of February while the bus driver was alone in the vehicle, which was parked at the basement of Mall of the emirates.

The suspect, who works at one of the chain of restaurants of a well-known company, sneaked into the bus and hit the driver five times on the head with a hammer which was left at the crime scene.

While going through the records of the employees, "we decided initially to focus on the ones who were missing on that day or had filed for a vacation or leave recently. It turned out that one of the workers had filed for a leave 10 days ago and he had collected his passport from the management. However, it showed in our system that the suspect did not leave the country yet," said Major Al Ayalli.

The suspect was arrested two days later at Abu Dhabi airport as there was a circular distributed throughout the country. The suspect booked a flight on a Hong Kong airline to Philippines.

As for the victim, he was found four hours after the crime was committed in a pool of blood. "He was in a very critical condition but right now he is in a stable condition," said Major Ahly.

The 28-year suspect who was arrested initially denied the charges. Following continuous interrogations, he confessed and stood up to reveal a sum of the money which was hidden underneath the insole of his shoes.

"He bought a pair of shoes that are bigger than his size to hide some of the money. Some of the cash he stole were converted to US dollars, gold, and a remaining amount of Dh 16,000 was delivered to Philippines which Dubai Police is working on retrieving," Major Al Ayalli said.

Major Ahly went on saying that there was a lack of security measures by the company.

"The negligence of the management in handling such matters is frustrating to us. How many times have we indicated that basic methods of security are necessary to avoid such crimes! A driver is asked to deliver this amount and only one person is given the task of securing the delivery of the amount?" he questioned.

The fingerprints at the crime scene matched that of the suspect, who prior to his arrest gave hefty tips to workers while purchasing items and when he went to the barber.