Police bust gang of shop robbers in Dubai

Dubai: A five-member gang was arrested last weekend for stealing from stores in Dubai. The case is still under investigation to estimate how many other stores they robbed.

Most of the robberies carried out by the Pakistani suspects were not reported to the police by the stores.

It was through investigations and the confession of the suspects that police discovered about Al Muraqabbat and Naif robberies, Lieutenant Colonel Ahmad Bin Gulaitha, director of the Crime Prevention Department at Dubai Police, said.

The justification provided by the store owners varied with one saying that his store only lost Dh400 and that it was not worth reporting about.

Another store worker said someone broke in to the shop but nothing was stolen as the cash counter was empty.

"These small details are extremely vital for us and members of the society should realise that even if the robbery was minor for them, reporting it to us could help prevent further robberies," he said. According to him, a supermarket owner had over Dh20,000 stolen from his cash counter. He reported the matter to the police.

Police patrol units were able to arrest the gang who were planning to steal from a store in Al Naif area.

Based on the gang's confessions, an estimated four to five stores were robbed, he said.

Criminal record

Most of the suspects are residents in the country. One has a criminal record for stealing a car previously and another one was arrested for rape and his involvement in other robberies, a police source said.

While interrogating him about the robberies, the police found sexually explicit images and a video footage of one of the suspects with a 16-year-old Arab girl.

The affair was consensual but due to her being under the legal age, "it is considered rape. The girl was interrogated and she confessed of having an affair with the suspect. Both the suspect and the girl were referred to the public prosecution," the source said.

Dubai A married couple from Venezuela, who are on a visit visa to the UAE, were arrested for stealing jewellery worth thousands of dirhams from shops in Dubai.

Police say the couple would check in hotels close to the area where they planned to carry out a robbery.

They would enter the stores separately and ask the store attendant to display trays of expensive jewellery, Lieutenant Colonel Ahmad Humaid Al Merri, Director of the criminal investigation section at Dubai Police, said.

While the staff was preoccupied with other customers or with one of the suspects, the suspects would steal the jewellery and quietly leave the store. They would then head to the nearest washroom to change their outfits and later return to their hotel room.

On October 7, Dubai Police received a report from an Asian about a robbery at the store where he works. Another robbery happened on the same day, when a Gulf national store attendant reported to the police about a missing golden necklace worth Dh8,000.

Within an hour of the last report, the police arrested the suspects in their hotel room.