Dubai: Three visitors have been accused of premeditatedly murdering a businessman in Dubai in a revenge killing. The businessman had killed the brother of one of visitors in 2005.

The Pakistani trio, aged 32, 30 and 46, were said to have flown specifically to Dubai after being contacted by someone via Facebook, according to records, notifying them that their countryman businessman was residing in Dubai in 2017.

A woman communicated with the 32-year-old visitor on Facebook and told him that the businessman who murdered his brother in 2005 was living in Dubai and she told him to contact her 34-year-old husband for further information, said records.

The 32-year-old suspect contacted the husband in Dubai and obtained further details about the businessman’s whereabouts and movements in the emirate.

The 32-year-old suspect was then believed to have convinced two other suspects [30-year-old and 46-year-old countrymen] to accompany with him to Dubai.

Records said the trio rented a car and kept an eye on the movement of the businessman before they killed him with a knife and a hammer in a parking lot in Al Ghusais on December 7.

A witness, who saw two of the suspects fleeing from the parking lot and the victim lying on the ground, called the police. Primary police investigation, and swift action led to the arrest of the three suspects at a check-in counter at Dubai International Airport when they buying the tickets to go back home and one of them had knife injuries.

Prosecutors accused the Pakistani trio of premeditatedly killing the businessman and the 34-year-old husband of abetment.

The suspects purchased the knife and hammer from a store in Deira, drove towards the victim’s residence in Al Nahda and killed him at 3.30am.

The 34-year-old suspect was accused of aiding and abetting the trio by providing them with the businessman’s address.

The three murder suspects pleaded not guilty when they appeared before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Sunday.

“I do not know them. I am not guilty,” the 34-year-old suspect contended before presiding judge Fahd Al Shamsi.

Advocate Dr Riyadh Al Kabban, who is defending one of the suspects, asked the court to adjourn the hearing until he reviews the case file.

The remaining suspects asked the presiding judge for an adjournment of the case until they hire defence lawyers.

The Indian witness told prosecutors that he saw two suspects fleeing from the crime scene and one of them had an injury on his hand and the other had blood stains on his clothes.

A police lieutenant told prosecutors that the suspects were identified when their descriptions matched with those provided to them by the Indian witness. “The suspects were apprehended around 8am at a check-in counter shortly after they fled from the crime scene. We identified the suspects as one of them was injured. During questioning, the 32-year-old suspect said that he paid Dh5,000 in advance to his accomplices to kill the businessman who had allegedly murdered his brother in Pakistan in 2005 … and he promised to pay them Dh10,000 more after the murder,” the police official told prosecutors.

Meanwhile, the family of the victim has lodged a civil lawsuit against the suspects and is seeking a temporary compensation.

The court reconvenes on June 10.