Driver and five men jailed for stealing buses

Dubai: Six gang members, including one who worked for a company that leases out buses, have been jailed for stealing buses and selling them for Dh35,000 each.

Dubai Court of First Instance sentenced in absentia 31-year-old Pakistani driver A.K., who worked for the company and used to steal keys of buses before handing them over to his associates to sell them, to five years in jail.

The court also sentenced his five collaborators, three Pakistanis, a Syrian and an Egyptian, to a year in jail each. The five suspects will be deported after serving their jail terms.

Police are still searching for the 31-year-old driver.

The Public Prosecution charged A.K. with stealing the bus keys and giving them to his two compatriots 29-year-old S.K. and 35-year-old K.H., 50-year-old Syrian employee M.F., and 30-year-old Egyptian K.T.

A 36-year-old Pakistani visitor E.J. was charged with aiding and abetting a crime.

A company official told the police that more than two buses were stolen from their company.

"Police suspected the drivers of the stolen buses ... but while the police were investigating, a third bus was robbed," he testified.

A Dubai police first lieutenant said: "An informant tipped us off that an unidentified person wanted to sell one of the stolen buses for Dh35,000 ... we coordinated with Ajman Police to arrest the suspects in Ajman."