Dubai: A trader, who suffers from a neurological disorder, has been accused of conspiring with others in abducting an engineer, who had sold fake phones to one of them.

The 39-year-old Pakistani engineer was said to have struck a business deal and sold several phones worth Dh5,400 to a compatriot merchant in June.

When the merchant realised that the phones were phoney, according to records, he gathered a number of his friends, including the 52-year-old Pakistani trader, and asked them to help him to settle the dispute with the engineer.

The trader, the merchant and three others were believed to have went in a minibus to one of the metro stations, where they assaulted the engineer and forced him into their vehicle.

Then they drove all the way to Ajman where they kept the engineer restrained until he called up one of his friends and asked him to bring him Dh5,400 that the merchant had been demanding.

The friends drove to Ajman and when they reached the place where the engineer had been confined, they saw the five men assaulting the 39-year-old.

The friends reported the matter to the police and the trader was apprehended, while the others managed to escape.

Prosecutors accused the 52-year-old trader and other suspects, who remain at large, of abducting the engineer using physical violence.

The trader, who is in custody, was spotted limping on his left side, when he stood before the Dubai Court of First Instance and pleaded not guilty.

He strongly refuted the abduction charges against him and told presiding judge Urfan Omar that he was not connected to the abduction.

Asked by the judge about his health condition, the suspect explained that he developed a neurological disorder that crippled his left arm and leg.

The engineer told prosecutors that a group of men came out of the minibus while he was waiting at the metro parking and abducted him at 2.30am. “They beat me and forced me into the minibus … then they drove to Ajman. They got me out in a deserted area where they beat me again and asked me to pay Dh5,400 to the merchant who had purchased mobiles from me and told me that they were fake. I called up my friend and asked him to come and bring money. They let me go after they took the money,” he testified to prosecutors.

In his prosecution statement, the friend confirmed the engineer’s claims.

A ruling will be heard soon.