Sharjah: A gang blamed for four daring armed robberies of more than Dh1 million from armoured trucks in mid-December has been arrested by Sharjah Police.
The highly organised gang — in the UAE on visit visas — plotted a string of orchestrated attacks and then ambushed armoured trucks delivering boxes of money to automated teller machines (ATMs) and at least one cash exchange outlet in Sharjah.
The suspects attacked the guards moments after the latter had removed cash boxes from their armoured vehicles on routine delivery routes to refill cash machines, police said on Wednesday.
The robberies took place at an ATM of Dubai Commercial Bank on King Abdul Aziz Street, an ATM in Al Safeer Mall in Al Nahda area, an ATM in Muweilah area and a money exchange office near National Paints.
The gang of 20 men hailing from Africa are now behind bars and awaiting their first court appearance, police told reporters at a press conference here on Wednesday.
The police confirmed that only a portion of the money stolen b y the gang had been recovered, as the gang members divided the rest of the booty among them and transferred their shares to their home countries. Three of the robberies occurred in one day, police said.
On Wednesday, officials revealed details of the police operation code-named ‘Clear Justice’ which included three major crimes, two murders and one armed robbery.
In the armed robbery case, police said the suspects were taken into custody in cooperation with the police in Dubai, Ajman and Fujairah.
The gang committed the heists at busy times of the day when streets were crowded with people which helped them to create confusion, said people.
The high-profile gravity of the crime saw top police officials attending the press conference including Colonel Mohammad Rashid Bayat, director of Sharjah Police Operations; Colonel Ebrahim Al Ajel, director of Criminal and Investigation Department; Major Mohammad Al Shamsi, head of the investigation; and Colonel Arif Bin Hudeib, head of Media and Public Relations Department.
Police pointed out that in each attack, assailants hit hard and fled quickly before police arrived. The attackers, however, did not evade security cameras.
Police said they were able to recognise the attackers through surveillance camera footage captured at the exchange house and at a mall.
Video footage showed the suspects drubbing the security guards and making off with the stolen cash.
In one robbery, assailants slashed the hand of a security guard with a knife and ran away with boxes of money.
Police believe the suspects had monitored and tracked the armoured trucks moving the money for a period of time before launching the attacks.
10-year-old case cracked
A second criminal case, confirmed by police on Wednesday, involved the murder of an Arab man on November 27, 2007 by an Indian who entered the country on a visit visa almost 10 years ago, left the country, and then returned recently.
The Indian man [who was aged 25 at that time ] stabbed the victim [aged 33 at that time] 15 times before escaping. He had remained at large for 10 years and was arrested on Wednesday.
The victim worked as a watchman of a building in Al Hazana area and lived alone in his room.
Grocer’s killers caught
The police also arrested two men in connection with last week’s murder of a grocery owner in daylight in Maysloon area of Sharjah.
The body of the 52-year-old Indian was found with several stab wounds inside his grocery shop.
Sharjah Police managed to identify and track the suspects in less than 12 hours and took them into custody. Police said one of them killed the victim and the other man assisted him. They were arrested from Kalba as they were planning to flee the country through the border.
