Baggage handler accused of stealing envelope containing almost Dh300,000

Indian arrived in the UAE with his life savings in three envelopes but, when he got his bags, he spotted that one had been tampered with an an envelope was missing.

DUBAI // A man arrived on a FlyDubai flight with his life savings of more than Dh1 million in three envelopes – only to find one of them was missing from his bag.

The Indian, 36, had Dh286,522 worth of Saudi riyals in the missing envelope, from the Dh1,078,000 he was carrying.

“I arrived on October 5 last year from Saudi Arabia and had my money arranged in three envelopes placed in two bags,” he told Dubai Criminal Court.

He saw that one of them had been tampered with and found that the envelope was gone.

Police connected two baggage handlers – a Bangladeshi, 28, and a Ghanaian, 29 – to the crime.

The Bangladeshi left the country hours after the incident, taking a flight early on October 6.

The Ghanaian told police that he saw the Bangladeshi open the bag, pull out an envelope and hide it his clothes.

He was charged with failing to report the incident while the Bangladeshi defendant, who remains at large, is charged with theft.

A verdict is expected on November 28.