Dubai: A painter has been accused of attempting to kill his co-worker by throwing him on the ground and stuffing his mouth with sand and trying to smother him over a Dh3,000 loan.

The 33-year-old Bangladeshi painter, M.S., was said to have lured his countryman co-worker, A.M., to walk with him between Al Ghusais graveyard and Mohammad Bin Zayed Street to dig out some money that he had buried there in September.

M.S. was believed to have pushed A.M. to the ground and stuffed sand in his mouth in an attempt to smother him as he intended to kill him.

Prosecutors charged M.S. with premeditated attempted murder.

The painter entered a not guilty plea and denied the charge of attempted murder when he appeared before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Wednesday.

“I did not have any intention to kill him. We had a fight over Dh3,000 that he had lent me to process a work visa for his brother. When I went to meet him in that area, two of his friends were present. The friends grabbed me by my arms while he grabbed me by my neck. We had a fight… I punched him under his eye and then I left,” the defendant argued before presiding judge Fahd Al Shamsi.

A.M. testified to prosecutors that the incident happened after the suspect asked him to walk with him in Sonapur area at 9pm.

“Suddenly he came from behind and wrapped a cloth around my neck and tried to suffocate me. Then he stuffed some sand in my mouth and smothered me and prevented me from crying for help. Two Pakistani pedestrians happened to be passing by and they saw the suspect attacking me… the latter ran away immediately while the Pakistanis called an ambulance. He attacked me because I was asking him to pay me back the money I had lent him,” he claimed to prosecutors.

A policeman claimed to prosecutors that A.M. alleged that the defendant lured him to the sandy area.

“When I questioned the victim, he claimed that M.S. asked him to accompany him that day to return his money. Once they reached the graveyard, according to A.M.’s allegations, the defendant started digging to get the money out… then he asked him for help. The victim claimed that while he was helping M.S. to dig, the latter tried to kill him,” testified the policeman.

The painter told presiding judge Al Shamsi: “I did not have any intention to kill him.”

A ruling will be heard on April 15.