Dubai: Two Pakistani men on Wednesday denied in court the charge of stealing 150 pigeons from a loft on a rooftop.
Prosecutors accused the Pakistanis, 20-year-old M.T. and 24-year-old K.R., and an Emirati student of breaking the loft's lock, stealing the pigeons and running away.
M.T. and K.R. pleaded not guilty and denied the theft charges when they appeared before the Dubai Court of First Instance.
According to the charge sheet, the Pakistanis and the 18-year-old student, K.A., stole the pigeons, which belonged to a 22-year-old Emirati student, at night. K.A. failed to appear before Presiding Judge Fahmi Mounir Fahmi, who adjourned the case until May 15.
"My mother phoned me while I was heading to Al Ain. She informed me that a person was looking over the fence while they were partying in the garden. I rushed back home and went up to the roof… I discovered that the pigeon loft's door was wrecked and the pigeons [had] disappeared.
Investigation
"The loft was fixed with concrete from the bottom side and somebody had tried to break it. Police's preliminary investigations exposed that the defendants were involved in the robbery," 22-year-old A.A. claimed to prosecutors.
An Emirati witness, O.A., testified that during a barbeque party the suspects claimed in front of him that they were planning to steal the pigeons.
Prosecution records said the defendants placed the pigeons in bags, put them in their car and drove away to Sharjah where they left the pigeons at a friend's house.
