Dubai: CCTV footage of the moment armed robbers struck at a Dubai money exchange house was released on Wednesday.
The images show the terrifying moment staff were held up by robbers in the raid that lasted 30 seconds.
Major-General Khamis Mattar Al Mazeina, Deputy Dubai Police Chief, urged managers and personnel in charge of security in banks, gold and jewellery shops, money transfer and exchange houses to use the security alert system connected to the police operation room.
Commenting on the robbery of Redha Al Ansari exchange at the Motor City Branch on Sunday, Al Mazeina said police wasted valuable time after receiving information from the staff member in charge at the time of the robbery, in which he claimed that he pressed the emergency button by mistake and things were normal.
“The manager told the police that he feared a reaction from the armed robber who was just jumped behind the counter to collect the money in the drawers of the tellers.
“If the manager opted not to answer the call from the operation room, in response to the emergency alert, it would give the operation room an indication there was something wrong taking place in the shop.
“The reaction of the police would be much swifter. And the culprits could have been arrested red handed,” he said.
“We have the best technology to fight crimes and criminals, all what we need is to use them properly,” Al Mazeina said.
Two men were arrested within two hours after the robbery at the money exchange shop at Motor City in Dubai on Sunday afternoon.
According to the victims’ report, the entire operation took around 30 seconds.
The accused men carried European passports, but were of Arab origin. They are still being questioned by police.
The victims reported that two men in black masks and gloves stormed into the exchange and that one of them had a gun.
The man with the gun shouted at the employees and ordered them to move away as the other jumped behind the glass division separating the employees and the customers, and collected the money, including a bag containing a large sum of foreign currency.
Footage distributed by the police showed three tellers, two men and a woman were forced to go inside a small room at the end of the counter while one of the robbers searched the drawers, and underneath the counter for money.
After collecting the money, the robber who was inside the counter threw the bag to the one who was waiting on the other side of the counter, he then jumped over it to leave the shop.
Major-General Al Mazeina praised the cooperation of all those involved in the operation which had resulted in the arrest the two men as they counted their money in a hotel room in the city.
One of the men is a resident of Dubai who has played for different football clubs in the UAE while the second came to Dubai on a visit visa just three days before the operation.
Police investigations revealed that he was a professional robber in his country and his criminal record was dotted with similar incidents in the past.
The police gave no exact figure about the stolen money, which was fully recovered after the arrest, but sources close to the investigation said the money was around Dh500,000 in different currencies.
