Dubai: Three Asian men were arrested within 24 hours of robbing Dh150,000 from a man at knifepoint in Dubai earlier this month, police said on Tuesday.
Major Adel Al Joker, of the Dubai Police Criminal Investigation Department (CID), told Gulf News the Asian victim was attacked as he was leaving a bank around 1pm in an area under Al Ghusais police station jurisdiction.
“The men beat him and one of them threatened him and stabbed him with a knife. They took his money and fled,” he said.
One of the passers-by called 999, and the victim was taken to hospital for treatment.
Teams from the CID were dispatched to the scene to investigate the incident.
He said that investigations showed that the incident was very similar to a failed robbery attempt that took place in June in the same area, but the culprits were not identified.
“The old case was brought and discussed by Maj Gen Khamis Mattar Al Mazeina, Dubai Police Chief, and Maj Gen Khalil Ebrahim Al Mansouri, Assistant to the Dubai Police Chief for Criminal Investigation Affairs, in a recent evaluation of the department, as they thought it was a worrying crime,” he said.
Maj Al Joker added that Maj Gen Al Mazeina and Maj Gen Al Mansouri gave the case great attention, even though the victim was not injured and did not have money which could have been stolen.
The department, Maj Al Joker said, had done a lot of work on the June case, and when they linked the two cases, the team was able to identify the suspects and locate them.
“They were living in a neighbouring emirate’s industrial area. They were arrested and the money was retrieved,” he said.
The three suspects confessed to their crimes and they were transferred to the public prosecution. They did not have a criminal record.
He said the men did not know the victim and chose him at random.
Dubai Police have held a number of campaigns to raise awareness among bank and money exchange customers to avoid such thefts.
