Six unemployed men denied any involvement in the theft of Dh150,000 worth of electric cables from a warehouse, a Dubai court heard on Monday.
The men, aged between 24 and 49, are accused of breaking into the warehouse in Ras Al Khor at 1.30am on May 31 last year, disabling the security cameras and locking up the security guard before stealing the cables and other equipment.
At Dubai Criminal Court, one of the defendants, who are all Pakistani, said: “We have nothing to do with this case, we are innocent.”
They are charged with robbery, confinement and damaging property, all of which they denied.
The Indian security guard at the warehouse told prosecutors that he was attacked by a number of men, who gagged him and covered his face then tied him up and locked him in a small room.
“I heard footsteps and, all of a sudden, about eight men attacked me. One of them was carrying a knife. They ordered me to remain silent then tied me up and covered my face,” said the guard.
A few hours later, another guard arrived to find his colleague restrained.
“He uncovered my face and untied me then we discovered that the warehouse was robbed, so we called the owner and called police,” said the guard, whose age was not given.
Prosecutors said that the attackers left behind tools used in the robbery and these led police to them.
Police said they found that the men each had criminal records for carrying out similar robberies in Ajman and Sharjah. The six were arrested in July last year and police said that some of the stolen items were found in their possession.
The Indian warehouse owner said: “I was informed about 4am. When I got there, police had already arrived and I found the doors’ locks broken, eight cameras damaged and their receivers stolen. The damages cost us Dh22,430.”
Police called him a month later to identify some of the stolen items. “The police caught Dh90,000 worth of our stolen items but the rest was never found,” added the owner.
The men denied all charges in court on Monday and the next hearing is set for October 30.