Dubai Two men lost their appeal and will spend 10 years in jail for trying kill a salesperson who ran an unauthorised money exchange business before stealing a huge sum of money from his safe.

The victim, a 25-year-old Indian salesperson, was in his flat where he ran the illegal money exchange business when an acquaintance called to ask him about his whereabouts in November 2017.

Once the victim notified the caller that he was at his flat, he heard a knock on his door at 2.30pm. On opening the door, he came face to face with four men.

The men forced their way into the flat, assaulted the victim and stabbed him in his stomach, before tying him with a piece of cloth and stealing Dh385,000 from his safe. They then fled.

In June, the Dubai Court of First Instance jailed two of the assailants — a 27-year-old Indian businessman and his 38-year-old countryman — for five years.

The duo appealed their primary judgement before the Appeal Court. Insisting that they are not guilty, they claim that two other suspects, who are on the run, where the ones who stabbed the salesperson.

Presiding judge Eisa Al Sharif dismissed the defendants’ appeal and lengthened their five-year jail term to 10 years behind bars.

The two accused will be deported after the completion of their sentences.

According to records, the injured victim managed to free himself and call the police just 10 minutes after his attackers had fled.

Police managed to arrest two of the assailants while the other two remain at large.

The victim said that an acquaintance — one of the suspects at large — called to check if he was at his flat.

“On hearing someone knocking on the door, I opened it and four persons forced their way inside. They asked me where I had kept my money, but I didn’t respond. They started searching the flat and when they didn’t find the money, one of them took out a knife and pointed it in my face... They threatened to kill me. Then I was stabbed in the stomach. The culprits tied me up and coerced me to lead them to the safe where I had kept the money... then they taped my mouth, stole the money and ran away. I freed myself after 10 minutes and called the police,” he testified.

A police sergeant said: “During interrogation, the defendants said the salesperson’s acquaintance was the mastermind behind the heist. They said they stabbed the victim in his stomach to force him to reveal where he had hidden the money,” the sergeant testified.

The appellate ruling remains subject to appeal before the Cassation Court.