Four men cleared of robbery charges

dubai — Four men have been cleared of forced robbery of jewelry worth Dh500,000 from a villa. Only two of them, a Pakistani and a Sri Lankan, aged 37 and 47, earlier showed up in the Court of First Instance and pleaded not guilty to the break-in and robbery charges.

The court found them not guilty for lack of evidence. When brought before the court, one of them showed his passport to the judge bench stating that he was out of the UAE at the time the incident happened. The other accused said he was detained then in connection with another case. The other two accomplices, both Sri Lankans, aged 34 and 25, at large, were charged in absentia. The robbery took place on September 5, 2015, in Twar, Al Qusais, at a time when the villa’s residents, an Emirati and his family, were out of UAE.

The complainant, a 39-year-old employee, said he got a call from his personal driver informing him about the back door lock broken in the villa he had rented in Twar. “I came back the following day and went right away to check on the house. I found the golden jewelry of my wife missing. The bedroom door was broken and the room was all in a mess”. The police arrived and took the necessary procedure and lifted fingerprints and other evidence.

The Emirati complainant said the last time he was in the villa was two months before the robbery. “The thieves took a necklace made of gold and diamonds. A diamond set comprising of necklace, earrings, bracelet and a ring in addition to expensive watches were also lost. It had all been kept in open drawers because the bedroom door was well locked and so were the villa doors and windows.” He told the investigators that the jewelry was worth Dh500,000.

The 47-year-old accused was caught by the police while trying to leave through the Sharjah International Airport on August 21, 2015. The two runaway accused were found to have left the country through the same airport on the same day. Those on trial have criminal records and had been involved in similar robbery cases in Dubai and Sharjah. The court decision may still be appealed by the public prosecution.

mary@khaleejtimes.com