Three arrested for beheading gardener in Dubai

Dubai: Three suspects have been arrested for the beheading of a Pakistani gardener in a residential community in Dubai, police said.

The Asian suspects were arrested when they were trying to escape the country.

The gruesome crime took place early this month at the community park in Emirates Living. The body of the gardener was found with multiple stab injuries and was decapitated, indicating that it was an act of vengeance, said Brigadier Khalil Ebrahim Al Mansouri, Assistant Commander-in-Chief for Criminal Investigation Affairs. “The crime was a fallout of a long standing family dispute between the family of the victim and the suspects back in their country,” he told an Arabic daily.

Brig Al Mansouri said two defendants tried to escape but a team from the CID tricked them into believing that they were being smuggled out of the country before arresting them.

The victim was on his bike when he was attacked. The police later identified him as a gardener and had no criminal record.

Brigadier Salem Al Rumaithi, Director of the General Department of Criminal and Investigation, said several CID teams were formed to investigate the case.

“The task force began to monitor suspicious people and it was later found that the three suspects had fled their apartments and switched off their mobile phones, which raised more doubts on their involvement in the murder.”

The police arrested one suspect who was hiding in a different emirate. He admitted his role in the crime and identified two other accomplices.

“He said the two other suspects killed the man and that he did not know the location of other suspects,” Brig Al Rumaithi said.

Colonel Mohammad Ahli, Deputy Director of CID, said the teams were facing a challenge before solving the case, as the two other suspects avoided calling any of the people they know and disappeared.

“The teams intercepted a call between them and a man in their country who was arranging their escape to a neighbouring country, and from there to their home country. This man was arrested and he admitted to his role in the case as well.”