Arson causes Dh12.63m damage

Tiler and runaway workers accused of rioting and setting worksite on fire

area. The rioting workers were believed to have prevented the company’s buses, according to records, from transporting the workers back to their labour accommodation by blocking their way with wooden bars.

The group of rioters were also said to have stormed into the site of the project and started a deliberate fire and destroyed several vehicles and heavy-duty machinery.

The company’s management called the police that managed to bring the situation under control, said records.

Police’s primary interrogations revealed that the 42-year-old Indian tiler and other workers [who remain at large] were the ones who had incited the workers to strike and riot and start the fire. Prosecutors accused the suspect and other runaway suspects of arson, risking the lives of others and causing damages worth Dh12.63 million to the assets of the two companies.

The 42-year-old suspect pleaded not guilty and refuted accusations before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Sunday.

A civil engineer told prosecutors that when he reached the project site, he noticed several workers rioting and behaving rowdily. “Then they set fire to the warehouses and the machines … anti-rioting police were also present at the scene and worked to contain the situation and solved the matter,” he told prosecutors.