Two jailed for aiding fugitive in robbery

Dubai: A sales executive and a cashier have been jailed for aiding and abetting a fugitive in an armed robbery involving $170,000 (about Dh624,000) from an exchange house, ruled a court.

The Dubai Court of First Instance sentenced the 34-year-old Pakistani sales executive, A.C., and his 27-year-old compatriot cashier, T.M., to five years in jail. They will be deported after serving their sentences.

Meanwhile, the main suspect, 30-year-old Pakistani visitor C.Z., who grabbed $32,200 (about Dh118,000) and then fled the country, was sentenced to ten years.

Presiding Judge Saeed Salem Bin Sarm sentenced C.Z. to tough punishment in absentia.

Police recovered the rest of the money from the rear trunk of the cashier's car. The Public Prosecution charged the visitor with taking the money from an exchange house employee who said he was beaten during the robbery.

A police lieutenant testified: "A.C. asked his Indian assistant, K.K., to bring the money from the exchange house and follow him to the car.

"K.K. said someone struck him on the back of his head and he fell to the floor before the bag of money was snatched ... We suspected A.C. because he should have been with K.K. at the time he collected the cash. We found the fugitive's picture in the flat of A.C. and T.M.... that was how the Indian assistant identified the fugitive."