SHARJAH // An Afghan thief dubbed "The Silent Swindler", who was deported four years ago, has been arrested after allegedly robbing a grocery shop. Mohammed Ghulam, who is believed to have carried out several burglaries while his victims slept nearby, was referred to the public prosecution charged with burglary and illegally entering the country. He was arrested on Sunday by Sharjah police after allegedly breaking into a grocery shop and emptying its cash register. "We believe he is responsible for many burglaries that have taken place in the emirate recently," a senior police official said.
"He possesses extraordinary skills of breaking into shops without being noticed and also opening closed cash counters in a most silent manner, so that a sleeping person in the same room does not hear him." Ghulam recently entered another grocery shop with three employees sleeping inside, and managed to escape with the day's earnings. He has previously been deported from Saudi Arabia for theft and was deported from the UAE in 2004 after serving a six-month prison term for theft. According to police, he confessed to entering the country illegally and said he had been back in the UAE for more than two years.
"We want this time to be the last he plays up with our laws," the official said. @Email:ykakande@thenational.ae