Dubai: An 18-year-old student has been accused of posing as a policeman, dragging an accountant out of his vehicle, tying him up inside a minivan and stealing Dh42,000 from him.

The Indian accountant was said to have been heading to a bank to deposit his company’s money, according to records, when the Iraqi student, H.J., and another person, who remains at large, robbed him in January.

H.J. was said to have posed as a policeman near the Fish Market, pulled the accountant by his shirt and forcing him into a minivan that the absconding man was driving.

H.J. tied up the accountant’s hands with plastic handcuffs and took the money from his pocket before they opened the minivan door and dropped him in Al Hamriya area.

Prosecutors charged H.J. with impersonating a policeman and using physical force to steal the Dh42,000 from the Indian.

The suspect pleaded not guilty before the Dubai Court of First Instance.

According to the charge sheet, prosecutors said H.J. and the absconder tied the accountant’s hands and legs and stole his money. Then they forced him out of the minivan in Al Hamriya after they released his legs but kept his hands cuffed.

The Indian claimed to prosecutors that the incident happened on a Saturday morning when he was heading to a bank to deposit the money.

“I kept the money in my pocket and left in the company’s vehicle. When I reached the Fish Market, a person stopped me and asked me to help him move his cart to the other side of the pavement … I helped him and H.J. stopped me while I was walking back to my vehicle. He claimed to be a policeman and asked for my identification papers. I gave him my papers before he grabbed me by my shirt and pulled me towards a minivan. When I asked him where he was taking me, he told me he was taking me to the police station. He forced me into the minivan and tied my hands and legs with plastic handcuffs. Then he searched me and took the money from my pocket. When I told him to give me back the money, he said that I could take it back at the police station. When I asked him to show me his police ID, he slapped me. The absconder was driving while another man was sitting in the minivan. They cut the plastic cuff on my legs and dropped me in Al Hamriya … then they drove away and I only memorised the letter and first number of the vehicle’s number plate. I reported the matter to the police after a pedestrian helped me to cut the handcuffs. A month later I was informed by the police that they had identified one of the suspects [H.J.] and they summoned me to the police station where I identified him in the police line-up,” the accountant testified to prosecutors.

A police lieutenant claimed to prosecutors that the Iraqi suspect was identified following his arrest for another theft that was carried out using a similar modus operandi.

The trial continues.