Justice catches up with man who fled the country after crime 15 years ago

A man who murdered a shopkeeper then fled the country 15 years ago was yesterday sentenced to life in jail.

The Pakistani thought the charge against him would have been lost in the system or dropped when he returned to Dubai last year. But a court heard that the killer, 46, was arrested immediately on his return and found himself on trial for murder.

On April 20, 2003, he and two others – another Pakistani, 39, and an Indian tailor, 36 – attacked the shopkeeper at his shop in the Naif area of Deira.

The tailor said he acted as a lookout while the other two hit the victim with a hard object on the head and stabbed him in the chest, neck and arms.

They stole his mobile phones, Dh300 in cash and his bank card, which they later used to withdraw Dh5,500 and split it among them.

Police tracked down and arrested the tailor after he was caught by an ATM camera withdrawing cash.

“The relatives of the victim reported that someone had been withdrawing from the dead man’s bank account, so we investigated and found a recording of the tailor withdrawing the cash,” a police lieutenant said.

The tailor admitted to being involved and told police about his accomplices, who were both outside the country.

“One returned three months later and was arrested at Dubai International Airport but the third remained at large, to be arrested only 14 years later. He was caught when he returned to Dubai,” the officer said.

The tailor and the first man were convicted in 2004.

The man before the court yesterday denied charges of premeditated murder and theft but he was sentenced to life in prison.