Dubai: Seven jobless men have been cleared of using a crowbar to break a lock and force their way into a grocery store from where they stole phones and Dh400.
The incident happened in January 2016 when an Indian vendor at the store came to know about it when he went to open the store at 6.30am.
He called the police once he found out that the store’s front door was broken.
Primary police interrogations led to the arrest of seven Pakistani men for their involvement in a series of break-ins and robberies that had been carried out in the same modus operandi.
Citing lack of corroborated evidence, the Dubai Court of First Instance acquitted the seven Pakistani suspects of breaking into the store and stealing cash from the register and four mobile phones worth Dh300.
Four of the suspects had pleaded not guilty while the remaining three were not brought to court.
Prosecutors said the suspects entered the store after breaking the lock, steel shutter and glass door. They stole Dh400 from the cash register, four phones and another Dh100 from a donation box.
The Indian vendor testified that he came to know about the theft when he came to open the store.
“Police came to the store and lifted the fingerprints from the place. They examined the surveillance cameras that showed a suspect, who wore a cap, and another one before they stole cash, phones and a donation box,” he testified.
A police sergeant told prosecutors that the suspects were apprehended for their involvement in similar break-ins and thefts.
“Upon questioning one of the suspects, he admitted to me that they went together to Al Satwa area and stole cash and phones after breaking into the store. He also told me they had robbed several shops in the same way when two of them would break in the store and the rest would keep an eye outside,” the sergeant said.
The primary ruling remains subject to appeal.
