Dubai: A porter and a cleaner have been jailed for three years each for wrecking cars’ windows and stealing Dh17,000 in cash and personal belongings during Eid Al Adha holiday.
A number of car owners reported to Dubai Police that they found their cars’ windows wrecked and valuables stolen after Eid prayers they returned in September 2017.
Four car owners reported to police that their cars had been robbed at around 7am and primary investigations found the involvement of the 27-year-old Pakistani porter and the 46-year-old Bangladeshi cleaner in the incidents.
The Pakistani porter was detained by Sharjah police for his involvement in robberies that had been carried out in the same way and his fingerprints matched with those lifted from the cars that were reported to have been robbed in Dubai.
On Monday, the Dubai Court of First Instance convicted the two defendants of stealing Dh17,000 in cash and personal belongings and causing deliberate damages to four cars worth Dh11,000.
Records said the duo used a screwdriver to break the cars’ windows and steal cash, mobiles and other valuables.
Presiding judge Urfan Omar said the defendants, who pleaded not guilty, will be deported.
An Egyptian victim said when he returned to his car after the Eid prayers he found that his mobile phones were missing.
“I thought that I had left the mobiles at home. When I returned to my residence, I found that I hadn’t forgotten them at home. When I returned to the parking spot in front of the mosque … there were other people present there whose vehicles had also been wrecked and valuables stolen. I reported the matter to the policemen present there,” he told prosecutors.
Three Indian victims told police that their vehicles had been wrecked and valuables stolen.
Monday’s ruling remains subject to appeal.
